


Pandemonium

by ypsese



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Adrien is a flustered little cinnamon roll, Akumatised Reader, Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Anxiety, Chat thinks the reader is the shit, Cute, Dork Adrien Agreste, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jealous Adrien Agreste, Kisses, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Protect Adrien Agreste, Pure confusion for both of them, Reader Needs a Hug, Reader is also a flustered little cinnamon roll, Romance, Sharing a Bed, Smut, love square, shy reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-27 08:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13877406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ypsese/pseuds/ypsese
Summary: Recap: Why should I give a damn about two morally adjusted, do-gooders like Ladybug and Chat Noir?News flash: Because I care.





	1. Black & Green

❁

  
Patiently tapping her painted fingernails, (Y:N) broke her gaze from the ever boring teacher and let her imagination wander. The sky was a nice fluid blue today with no aspiring qualities. Sometimes (Y: N) liked the simplistic approach to things. 

Simpler, in not having to pretend to be someone she wasn't and protect her double life. She had never asked to be given a Kwami, she never wanted to be a superhero. But the small deity claimed that she was the one, she had the traits of a hero.

Being the miraculous holder she was she always had a sense of pride when she protected people even though she was nothing like her alter ego.

She never liked being in the spotlight though, and her Kwami respected that and let her roll with her own thing. So in other words, (Y: N) had never tired her heroine side. The occasional robbers in dark alleyways but nothing major. 

Misaki, her panda Kwami was fidgeting in the pocket of her jacket and it was annoying her immensely, she had half a mind to quietly strangle the black and white bear while no one was looking.

She hated to admit it, but as a normal school girl of fifteen years, she played the part of the stereotypical shy girl who couldn't get a word out to anyone, let alone Adrien. It wasn't that she was frightened of people, there just wasn't a person in sight that would pay the slightest attention to her. 

Her now irritating finger tapping was now getting her scrutinising glares from most of the class, even the brave and beautiful Marinette was giving her a distasteful scowl every now and then.

"Miss (L: N), could you please stop that infuriating tapping or leave the classroom." The teacher scolded, her hands clasping together in an intimidating gesture. Raising an eyebrow, (Y: N) stopped slouching in her chair and leant up, an embarrassing expression appearing on her face. She got up quickly and grabbed her backpack.

"I guess I'll take that offer." She murmured making the teacher's eyes widen. 

"Freak," Chloe said a little too loudly. (Y:N) rolled her eyes and left the classroom slamming the door shut with a small smack.  She normally wouldn't have made a big exit but lately, after watching numerous Akuma battles she has been feeling a strange emotion bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

It sounded like some sort of trashy twelve-year-old novel but it was true, (Y:N)'s miraculous powers were influencing her emotions in a befuddling way. 

Misaki slipped out of the pocket of her jacket and hid beside her at the hip of her jeans.

"Jeez," Misaki quipped. "Somethings up you're butt today!" She muffled a giggle causing the teen to slap her away in annoyance.

"Oh (Y: N), don't be like that, it's a joke," She said lazily as she floated across (Y:N)'s face on her side. That stupid smug Kwami of hers was as annoying as a field of prickly bushes. 

"Misaki," She said softly, changing the topic as they walked down the stairs. "I feel strange."

"...Stange?" Her Kwami pouted. 

"I've been having random bursts of adrenaline lately." She watched the small panda's eyes widened in excitement. 

"It's your Miraculous side." The tiny panda explained. "Since you've neglected your powers, they've bottled up inside you." (Y:N) frowned and shoved her hands into her pockets. 

"C'mon (Y: N), I've been sleeping and eating rice for six months, can we kick some Akuma-booty already?!" Her Kwami was giving her this adorable look with those big pink eyes and she had to turn her head in fear of giving in. 

"I'll think about it." She mumbled under her breath as they opened the doors to see it was pouring outside. She tilted her head to the side and lifted her palm in shock. A drop of water landed on her open palm and shook in disturbance. 

"Since when was it raining?" (Y: N) asked no one in particular. Misaki shrugged her shoulders and tucked herself into (Y: N)'s neck, nuzzling her softly.

"I'm Stormy Weather." A pitchy voice of what she assumed to be an akumatised human called out from the streets. She turned her attention away from the raindrop and looked up at the hovering girl in the sky. 

"Great." Her lips turned into a thin line. "A lunatic is changing the weather." (Y:N) deadpanned her hands shoving into her pockets as the wind picked up. 

The girl's hair was a lavender and indigo colour, spun into a toffee-like spiral at each hairline. Her dress was fluffy like cotton candy and she clutched an umbrella in her right hand and was swinging it back and forth like it was a weedwhacker. 

"How dare you insult **Stormy Weathe** r!" She roared as she approached the young girl. 

"Oh, you heard that?" (Y:N) cursed herself quietly and shoved her hands back into her pockets. The wind ripped through her jacket and sent cold daggers across her skin. 

"You shall face the wrath of Stormy Weather!" She screeched, her umbrella coming across her covered fingertips and swirling it through the ragged winds. 

Like some sort of 50's dance routine, she impressively juggled the umbrella through her fingers until she suddenly swung it out in front of her causing shards of ice to explode from the tip of the umbrella and straight in (Y:N)'s direction. 

How quickly everything had escalated slid right past (Y: N)'s critical radar.

The polar vixen's violet eyes were covered in a leaf-like mask, somehow she managed to make it look intimidating and not downright stupid. 

(Y:N)'s eyebrows raised as she found herself shifting her feet wider apart and holding up her forearms in protection to the incoming barrage of wintery force. 

(Y:N) only moved her feet a couple centimetres and she had managed to shrug off the attack with minimal injuries. 

She didn't know what came over her in that moment. Maybe it was her small temper tantrum in class, maybe it was the adrenaline surging through her veins. But her attitude changed and she sassed the villain. 

"You need to chill out." She said softly making the girl's eyes twitch.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" She muttered.

She shrugged. "Maybe a little bit." 

"I'll show you." She grinned, swiping her umbrella across the length of her body causing a gust of strong wind to take (Y: N)'s feet from under her. 

Her eyes widened in surprise as the breath left her lungs and she choked on her own saliva. The strength of the wind forced her back into a stone wall.

(Y:N) dropped to her knees and clutched her ribs in a pain. A stinging feeling crawled up her throat making her eyes water and her tonsils tickle, she coughed and a little blood splattered on the cement in front of her.

"That hurt..." She dusted the snow off her shoulder and stood up. 

"Pissed off and it isn't even lunchtime," Misaki sighed. "I can't get a break.

"Be quiet..." (Y: N) warned, wiping the blood off her cheek with the back of her hand.

"You could stop her," Misaki drawled as she nudged her companion with her shoulder. "You know...?" 

She knew the small panda was right. Ladybug and Chat Noir probably hadn't been notified of the Akuma attack yet. But (Y:N) knew and she had all the variables. 

Something in (Y: N)'s eyes changed and she looked over at her Kwami. 

"Misaki....?" Her voice was a little shaky and she tried to push the nervousness from her gut. 

"...Yes?"   


"Let's roll!" She yelled through gritted teeth and bloody gums. 

Misaki's pink eyes widened in excitement and adrenaline, she winked and got sucked into the anklet that was wrapped tightly around (Y: N)'s left foot. The anklet had three tiny Panda dolls on it and Misaki had told her when all three of them disappeared she would change back.

(Y: N) found a relaxing sensation override her skin and bone. A soft yet woolly feeling coaxed her into a flood of sensation. The bright light surged from her body, lifting and stretching her bones and muscles. 

Her hair was floating in the like a fiery torch and her eyes were screwed shut. Her outfit shivered over her skin and solidified. 

A black long sleeve top, a white vest and black shorts.  She wore thigh-high white socks black boots much like Chat Noirs. Strapped to her shorts was a black belt that held a 30-centimetre bamboo baton, it was shaped almost like a kendo sword. 

Misaki explained to her when they had first met that she had three powers. Her bamboo baton, which could extend to any height much like Chat Noirs. Her sleep dart --It can either put someone to sleep or incapacitate them in sticky goo-- which had one use per suit life. And then she had her biggest ability which was 'Bamboozle' when activated it could confuse the person it's pointed at for 10 seconds. 

Her mask was black down the nose and white on each eye and she had the panda ears poking up through the locks of her hair. She was wearing black gloves that went to her wrists and a small cotton ball tail.  

She touched the bamboo baton and a warmth surged through her body and gave her strength. She checked her miraculous and saw that the three Panda's were there.

"Alright, the first thing to do is get the school to evacuate." (Y:N) told herself. She shook the nervousness from her mind and took off, she ran back to the place she had last seen Stormy Weather. 

The freak had disappeared into thin air. Gritting her teeth in chagrin she slammed the doors of the school open and sprinted for the balcony, she jumped using all her strength and miscalculated her ability and ended up hiking way over the borders.

She kicked the door of her classroom open and everyone snapped to attention. Their reactions were priceless, they all turned and their mouths went agape 

"You need to evacuate the building, a girl from the weather competition has been akumatised." She said slowly, the teacher just continued to stare in shock. 

She found the surge of confidence from talking from behind a mask astounding. No wonder superheroes could be so egotistical, she was a different completely different under the panda persona 

"Who are you?" A snarky voice rose up making (Y: N) twitch in irritation.

"I don't have time to explain," (Y: N) said exasperatedly. "Stormy Weather is looking for the girl who won the weather broadcast competition, I'm afraid that she is trying to hurt her."

"What even are you-?" She exclaimed mocking horror, (Y: N) rolled her eyes and stamped her foot in irritation. 

"Shut up, your voice is irritating." Panda quipped with a deadpanned expression. Giggles resonated from around the room. 

"Well don't just sit," She exclaimed. "Get your asses outta of here," She turned around and skidded out of the room. She made it into the street and noticed the the weather was getting colder and harsher.

"Okay," She told herself. "If my hunch is correct and she's going after the new weather girl, then she should be heading for the --woah!" She yelled as a vehicle flew over her head. 

It skidded to a halt down the street, the entire back of the car had been totalled. 

"You're gonna get a parking ticket for that, Ice Queen." (Y: N) commented as Stormy Weather landed gracefully in front of her. They were in the middle of a street and there was no cover.

"My name is **Stormy Weather**!" The girl exclaimed but before she could get another word out she got a baton right to the face. A red mark thrummed against her skin and her face twisted in pain. 

"You infuriating Panda!, I'm going to blow you away! " She yelled as her umbrella opened up, the strong wind just like before hit her and she was thrown through the air like a badminton.  Her feet scraped lightly on the asphalt before some invisible force curled around her and tossed her across the city. 

Panda yelled as she felt herself go airborne, her head tucked behind her neck as the floor in front of her skimmed across her iris' in flashes of vivid colour. She was sent tumbling through the air like a bowling ball.

She thought she was a goner, she lost her baton in the fight which was her only source of defence. And now she would fall to the ground and splatter. 

That was until she landed on a soft surface and her body tensed up, eyes closed in fear. She was shivering slightly and her body was hunched up. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest and it refused to calm down. 

She carefully opened her eyes and blinked at the green, feral ones of Chat Noir staring at her. His head was tilted to the side and his blonde hair was frazzled like he'd been stampeded by fangirls.

That wouldn't have been surprising. 

"I'm not dead?" She stated the obvious. Chat Noir smiled down at her smugly before lifting her to her feet.

"Thanks for the paw, I thought I was a goner," Panda said, causally dusting the dirt of her her shorts. Chat Noir grinned at the heroine for her pun and Ladybug visually cringed.

"Panda." She turns her gaze towards Ladybug. "I already know who you guys are," Panda adds offhandedly, doing a 360 and taking in her new surroundings. 

"Salutations Panda." Chat said, bowing down a little and kissing her gloved hand. Panda cocked her head to the side and felt fire run up her cheeks and her ears burned red.

"So Panda huh? You're the new superhero in town?" Ladybug asked making her eyebrows twitch.

"Yeah...I guess you could say that." She commented back making Chat click his tongue at her vagueness. She was still getting used to being confident. 

"I have an annoying Kwami." She elaborated. Ladybug grinned and Chat laughed, slinging his arm over Panda's shoulder and leaning his weight on her. 

"Why is it that I'm the one that gets the nice kwami and you two lucked out?" She shrugged. 

"Ladybugs are lucky...black cats...not so much," Panda said making Chat mutter under his breath and grumble.

"...Aren't Pandas are supposed to be lucky in Chinese?" Chat says and he smiles, smugness lacing in his tone.

"Do I look Chinese to you?" (Y: N) narrows her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Maybe...if you let me peek under the mask..." Chat teased as he poked her nose."

"Nice try Chaton," Panda nudged his shoulder with her own and Chat grinned. 

"Ah, but I bet you'd look pawgeous." Chat said as he went to kiss her hand, ignoring the flutter in her chest she lucked out and turned away, getting back to the task at hand.

"Enough flirting, we've got a job to do," Panda poked Chat in the nose this time. 

"I'll check the reporting studio, you guys do whatever you normally do..." Panda says before turned around and bolting off down the street. 

"Wow." Chat commented staring at her bounding into the streets his hands crossed across his chest.

"Let's get moving Chat Noir." Ladybug grunted.

But it was to late, Stormy Weather had landed in front of them, materialising out of nowhere. 

"Ladybug and Chat Noir, give me your miraculous!" She chimed. A flurry of air was spinning around her body. Chat scoffed and shook his head. 

"How about you pick on someone your own temperature." He snorted, picking up his fallen baton that he was forced to drop to pick up the flying Panda. 

He spun it through his fingers easily, like he had done it twenty million times before (possibly in the mirror).

"You will be expecting some lightning storms," Stormy said evilly. "...Like right now." She giggled maliciously and pointed her umbrella to the skies they immediately darkened as if it was spellbound and impounded a force of crackling lightning down among the two heroes.

Ladybug grabbed Chat Noir by the collar and tugged him and herself away from the strike of lightning that hit the ground where they used to be standing.

They rolled away and Chat Noir ended up on top of Ladybug in a compromising position. Chat Noir smiled sheepishly at Ladybug before he hopped off her and gave her a hand getting up.

"I'm going to give her a piece of my mind," Chat exclaimed as he started towards the villainesses wind storm.

"Oh Kitty," Ladybug sighed. "Just follow my lead," She tugged on his tail making him jerk backwards. She then leapt sideways and landed on the side of the building. Pulling her yo-yo she swung it around causing it to turn a bright red and gleam intimidatingly.  She jumped off the building timing her execution at the same time as Chat Noir and then Stormy Weather brushed her umbrella across them and they bounced back,  five or so cars coming with them across the building.

Ladybug landed carefully and not a second later the car came in contact next to her and she bounced to the side. Chat Noir leapt left and a car landed on his side, he turned around quickly and was faced with another smashed car, they leant in and he cowered slightly and covered his head. But then he opened his eyes, saw that he wasn't dead and ran out of the danger zone.

While Chat was in a sticky situation Ladybug was gracefully dodging cars left and right and sticking her yo-yo across the road and connecting it with a street lamp, she pulled out of the danger and landed on top of the neon light and perched like a bird.

She landed next to Chat Noir and then she looked into the distance and saw that a large bus was flying towards them in a horizontal slide. Ladybug was like a deer in the head lights and she just stared at the bus whereas Chat Noir grabbed her waist and held her close like an idiot.  

And as their lives flashed before their eyes they felt the tickling feeling of fuzz on their face and the air rushing through their ears. Panda dropped them safely onto the rooftop and crouched down out of Stormy's view.

"I leave you guys for five minutes and you are already dying." She grinned.

Chat Noir rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly whereas Ladybug huffed and crossed her arms.

"I could handle it."

"I could see that," She commented. "From the bus...you know...hurtling towards you both."  

"I had a plan." Ladybug insisted.  Panda didn't see the use in retorting and just giggled covering her black-gloved hand over her mouth.

"Thanks for saving my tail." Chat said, grinning. 

"Anything for a damsel in distress." Panda quipped back with a sly wink before she backflipped off the rooftop and landed near Stormy Weather. 

"The Panda-Bear," Stormy taunted. "Back for another gust are you?"

(Y: N) raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hip. "Was that supposed to be funny?" She remarked making the girl blush in embarrassment. 

Her baton was strapped back to her hip and she pulled it out, shifting her weight through the stances and breathing out. 

"Hand over the 'brella." Panda yelled over the angry winds. Stormy crossed her arms in a sassy remark and scooted a finger in her direction.

"Bite me."

"No thanks," Panda said quickly, shards of ice spat out from the angry wind and she used her baton as a shield and quickly spun it in a circle. she had one shot to land the sleep dart or she was done for. 

Stormy screamed out in frustration as none of her attacks seemed to hit Panda, they just ricochet off her baton. The villain started walking back which gave Panda room to move forward.

She pressed her lips to the end of the baton and puffed out her cheeks. The smell of sulphur and rubber filled her mouth and throat as a fluffy-tailed dart caught Stormy in the thigh. 

A pink, bubbly substance started to wrap itself around her skin, trapping her. Stormy ended up tripping over her own feet and falling onto her behind.

"Well, would you look at that..." (Y: N) teased as the sticky goo started to crawl up Stormy's skin and started to restrict her arms. 

The girl's eyes hardened and her arms flailed with her umbrella in panic. Lightning started to crackle dangerously in the sky and the wind started to take Panda off her feet.

She cursed and pointed the end of her baton at the distressed villain as the pink goo reached her neck.

"Bamboozled!" (Y: N) yelled as energy from her ankle shuddered through her arm and all the way through her bamboo stick and zapped out the end like a wand. 

Stormy Weather banged her fists angrily against the ground in an attempt to break the goo as Hawkmoth screamed bloody murder in her ear.

 _"You fool, you have failed me!_ " He yelled, clenching a fist angrily.

The effect caught Stormy right in the face and she choked up. Her eyes went crooked and she slumped against the pavement, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she started to giggle. 

The umbrella tumbled from her grasp and the pink goo started to evaporate on her skin. Panda stepped on the umbrella and it split up the seams, causing a beautiful, black butterfly to flutter into the air.

Panda caught it in her palm and pushed all her primal instinct and bravery into her hands and a distinctive glow emitted from her hands and she let go of the beautiful silhouetting insect.  The girl who was now de-evilsied was sitting on the ground with a confused and dazed expression.

Panda smiled and reached out her hand.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly as the girl accepted her hand and got to her feet.

"Yeah," She mumbled. "I'm just a bit dazed, what happened?"

"You got akumatised and were planning to hurt Mireille because you didn't win the weather competition," (Y: N) gave the girl a once-over. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," She insisted. "How could I let that get to my head!" She complained clutching said body part in a vice grip. Panda placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Everyone can be a sore loser, it's getting over it that takes the heart of a champion." She reassured. Suddenly a beeping sound resonated from her ankle and she cursed. She had a couple minutes before she transformed back. 

"What's your name?" The girl said in confusion as she cocked her head to the side.

"Panda," (Y:N) smiled as she turned around. "My name is Panda"

❁


	2. Black & White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crowd of Paris had taken a liking to the new and heroine and they now sell Panda merchandise.

 

✽

It had been five months since Panda first appeared and she had been helping Ladybug and Chat Noir since then. Panda had somehow become the anchor of their screwups, always sweeping their mistakes under the rug and away from the public eye.

Her and Ladybug didn't really click, they were cordial enough to work together. But there was always this intensity between them when they were alone, and a clash of personality when they offered ideas on how to take down akumas. 

But the crowd of Paris had taken a liking to the new and heroine and they now sell Panda merchandise.

(Y: N) was currently taking a midday walk down her suburban street, peeking on her neighbours and what they were doing on the weekends and mulling over her thoughts.

Being a superhero was hard work. She had to balance her egotistical, brave side with her shy civilian side. Along with loads of school work, random Akuma attacks and patching up her bruises and injuries after fights.   


It was getting a bit exhausted and she needed to clear her head. She didn't have anyone human to talk to about her anything and Misaki wasn't good at relating to human dilemmas. 

(Y:N)'s mother had died from cancer when she was young. The entire situation had left her numb and subjective to vulnerability. She never used to be so shy, mainly because her mother tried her best to put her out there in the world and get her to experience new and wonderful things.

But when she passed on, she crawled back up into her corner of silence and shut herself from the world. Her once caring and loving father had turned into a shell of a man, hardly there in the head. 

A neglective father who had pushed her into a river of oil and made every breathing moment a struggle with anxiety. 

But as the gentle winds brushed her hair and the amazing smell of freshly cut grass wafted up her nose she felt herself relax.

The sun was shining down rays of heat in a dazzling beam. The cerulean sky looked doubtfully limited today. It reminded her of the marvellous sea. (Y: N) liked how they both matched equivalently not in similarity, but in the deep colours.  She also liked the fact that they were both infinite; the sky high and untouchable, the seas, endless and deep.

She walked past Mr Sweeney's house after much effort to get her thoughts moving from the one rutted stream. 

"Good afternoon, Mr Sweeney." She says as she watches his head poke out from shovelling a hole right next to one of Mrs Sweeney's rose bushes.

Man, she is going to be angry...

"Afternoon (Y: N), how you been?" His old, croaky voice was adorable and she shrugged her shoulders. Mr Sweeny wiped the sweat from his brow with his wrist that was covered with gardening gloves. His glasses were coved in mud and his wrinkled face and hot with exhaustion.

(Y: N) continued to walk until she got passed a house that was for sale. The house had large dam out the front with a mini wharf that led to a small duckling that was perched at the side. His black, beady eyes locked with hers and he let out a cute little quack.

"Quack to you to." She mumbles and then freezes when a wave of nostalgia comes over her.  She remembered going on walks every Sunday with her mother.

They'd walk past the sale house and her mother would tell her that the reason that no one bought it was because there were crocodiles in the dam and they would eat anyone who dared live in the house. 

(Y: N) always remembered her mother being this beautiful woman with the biggest, kindest heart. She had a laugh that could make anyone smile and said the wisest words at times when she wasn't being immature.

"(Y: N) you're totally zoning out again." Misaki teased as she slipped out of her pocket, sliding onto (Y: N)'s shoulder and laying back in a sun tanning position. Her pink eyes twinkled in amusement and (Y: N) ignored her and kept walking.

"Don't be like that!" The tiny panda whined and she flew into (Y: N)'s neck and nuzzled into her softly. (Y: N) smiled at the memory and kept walking down the road. 

When she got home she put her dog away, topped his water up and fed him some food. She got inside and shrugged her jacket off and threw it into the washing machine.

"I'm home, Dad." She calls to only get a grunt in response. She peers into his study room -- the door was cracked open -- and he's sipping a coffee, back hunched over his computer, grumbling to himself. 

Sighing she slips her gumboots off and walks into her room. She flops on her bed and stares at the ceiling for a while until her phone rings.

She checks the caller ID.

It was Adrien.

✽

"Okay class, you will be partnering up for this assignment," Cheers of excitement erupted across the room.

"Nino could you remind the class of our assignment." The teacher said with a smile. (Y: N) sighed and leant back further in her chair and rolled her head back.

"We will be, like, presenting a four-minute speech with a partner about a specific topic," Nino said as he fiddled with his fingers and his watch. 

"Great!" The teacher clapped her hands. "Now I will be picking your topics and your partners," The class groan.

"Marinette and Nathaniel, Nino and Sabrina, Alya and Ivan, Julica and Chloe, Kim and Max, Rose and Mylene and Adrien and (Y:N)." (Y: N) could instantly feel the glares coming from Chloe and Marinette but she shrugged it off with a disinterested expression. 

Adrien back glanced her and gave her a kind smile, she looked down at her hands and forced the blush away from her cheeks. 

"Marinette and Nathaniel will be doing love, Nino and Sabrina will be doing freedom, Alya and Ivan will be doing anger, Julica and Chloe will be doing passion, Kim and Max will be doing power, Rose and Mylene will do fear and finally Adrien and (Y: N) will be doing bravery." 

At those words (Y: N) felt a nudge in her pocket and she slammed her fist down on the bulge and an immediate squeak was the muffled response. 

The bell dismissed everyone and the class scattered together. (Y:N) got up lazily and walked over to Adrien, she handed him a simple piece of paper.

"My number," Was her soft mumble. "Call me when your not busy and we will pick a place to work on it," She then turns and exits the classroom, her cheeks burning. 

Adrien stared at the numbers scrawled on the piece of paper before small smile interrupted his features. He stuffed the paper in his pocket and followed (Y:N) out of the room.

"Plagg!" Adrien whispered. "You won't believe what just happened." The black Kwami squirmed in his shirt pocket and sighed. Adrien had had a crush on (Y: N) for so long and it seemed like the gods were shining down on him today. 

She was mysterious to him without even trying, she didn't speak unless spoken to, she was incredibly shy and also kinda sassy. He scrunched the paper in his hand and shook his head.

Friends. Just start with friends. 

And as if he read his mind, Plagg made a snotty remark, "Just friends? You're not even that." He teased making Adrien scowl.

✽

"Hello?"

There was a short pause. "O-Oh hello (Y: N), I-It's Adrien I was wondering if you wanted to hang out and do our a-assignment. I mean if you don't want to it's not like I care- wait I do care it's just-"

"Sure, we can come to my house don't mind?" She said cooly and he could practically hear the smugness in her voice.

"Sure!" He said a little too quickly making an embarrassing heat tint his cheeks.

"Alright, I'll see you in a few." She laughs softly and ends the call. Adrien pulls the phone away from his ear and buries his head in his hands.

"I-I love you (Y: N)." Plagg teases punching his shoulder.

"Shut up," Adrien grumbles, cheeks flushed.  

"Whatever." Plagg laughs and devours another slice of camembert.

✽

(Y: N) was waiting patiently at the gate of her house for Adrien to arrive. And sure enough a silver limousine pulled up outside her driveway and she waved slowly as he got out of the car and slammed the door. 

"Hello," She paused, examining his expression. "Welcome, I guess," She commented offhandedly making him blush. She gestured with her head for the door and he followed her inside. 

"Dad...?" She called hesitantly, she looked cautiously back at Adrien. 

"What (Y: N)," Someone grunted exasperatedly. "I'm busy working, stop bothering me with your--" Her father looked up and saw that she had a boy with her.

"Oh." He mused. "You must be one of (Y:N)'s friends, why are you here?"

"Father," (Y: N) warned. "Be nice." (Y:N) shot Adrien an apologetic look he just smiled back and shrugged.

"I told you he was coming over, you just weren't listening," She said softly before taking him into her room and shutting the door. Adrien sat on her bed and stared around her room.

"Sorry about my dad," (Y:N) flushed red. "He's been that way since mum past away," She said softly, scratching the back of her head as she walked over. 

Judging by the relationship (Y: N) had with her father he could tell that his father compared to hers looked like an outstanding citizen. His attitude dulled at the sound of her news. Her mother had died and she was left with a hateful father. It concerned Adrien that she came home every night to that.

Maybe that was why she was so shy. 

As he was having an epiphany, (Y:N) was slipping some music on and grabbing her English book, she flicked her pen back and worth and waited patiently.

"Done zoning out?" She asked making him snap back into reality.

He blinked in confusion and his ears turned red. "Sorry I didn't mean to- I mean I-I just--"

"Chill, Adrien." She murmured,  giving him a small smile. His heart started to race and he glanced down at his shoes. 

"You don't normally talk this much." Adrien quipped as he sat down next to her. 

"I don't **hate** talking to people." She mumbled, looking down at her book, her face turning stoic. Instantly he regrets speaking and he mentally punches himself for being so dumb. 

When she looked back up, the expression was gone and her nose almost bumped against Adrien's. He watched her cheeks flush pink and her lips part to suck in a breath. 

"Okay, h-how do you want to start." (Y:N)'s voice trembled as she leant back trying to push the scent of his cologne away from her mind. 

"I-I don't know," He mocks her stutter making her pout and turn away from him. 

Her eyes widen. "You're pawful." She mutters making him burst into laughter.

"A fan of Chat Noir?" He asks nudging her shoulder.

"Yeah," She challenged with a soft voice. Adrien notes that it sounds so backwards and oxymoronic coming from her.  "So what if I am?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow at her defiant reaction and shrugged. "So, you like him the best?" 

(Y:N) pursed her lips and looks down at her arms again, it's like a nervous habit now. "I just think he's underappreciated." She says under her breath making Adrien blush at the comment.

"What about Panda? I think she's pretty cool." He shoots back. He watches her expression carefully because he knows she doesn't give a lot away. Her eyes widened and her lips thin out. 

"...You think Panda's cool?" The doubt in her voice was evident. 

"Yeah, I'm a mega fan." To prove his argument, he points to his bag. (Y:N) is confused at first but then she notices the panda keychain dangling from his zippers.  

Her ears burn and she stares at her piece of blank writing paper in realisation. Adrien gives her a quizzical stare but she cools herself down and mutters a reply.

"L-Let just do this assignment." She stammers out, clutching her pen until her knuckles go white. 

"Okay," He smiles at her. 

It didn't take them too long to come up with some solid arguments and quotes from famous world leaders and ranking officers from wars and battalions. 

The music made it easier for the conversation to flow and Adrien and (Y:N) seemed to click well together, Adrien talked about stupid small things and she made quiet but funny remarks in return. Adrien was surprised at how funny she was when she warmed up to someone. 

And although she came off as cold sometimes and her she was hard to read and relate to. She was also really sweet and cute and especially adorable when she was flustered. Adrien and she laughed their heads off at the dumb Spotify advertisements as he tried to mimic the voices. 

"That hurt my brain." (Y: N) mumbled almost inaudible as she leant against the back wall, he smiles down at her and she doesn't like that he's so much taller than her. 

"Agreed," He hummed. "Maybe we should write a book on how many brain cells you can lose from doing essays," Adrien mutters, his hand resting beside her thigh.  

"Nathalie is outside," He comments, the glare of the phone screen reflecting in his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow," He smiles at (Y: N) and she feels intimidated by his easy-going eyes and dapper smile. 

"It was nice hanging out," He blushes a little. 

He quickly gets up and rushes from the room leaving (Y: N) awestruck and confused. When Adrien opened the front door and shut it behind him, he hadn't realised how dark it was getting and how hungry he was.

He looked up and saw the cool, cavalier stare of Nathalie and frowned.

"Adrien," Her calculating voice called out. "Did you enjoy your stay suburban part of town?" He nodded and showed her small smile before slipping into the open car door. 

✽

 


	3. Red & Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A superhero can never get a break.

✽

"A man in a dark suit is terrorising civilians and hunting down the mayor's daughter." The television crackled loudly and (Y: N) hissed under her breath. 

She quietly got to her feet and picked up her half-eaten food and scrapped it into the bin before rinsing the plate and placing it in the dishwasher.

"Have you done your chores?" Her father's cold voice beckoned from the lounge room. He had his feet up on the couch and his arms slung lazily over the chair rest. 

"Yes, father."

"Fed the dogs?"

"Yes."

"Clean the bathrooms?"

"Yes."

"Made the beds?"

"Yes."

"Put away the leftovers?"

She responded when one more almost inaudible sound and when she got no reply, no reply, she nodded her head too many times and rushed swiftly to her bedroom.

She wasn't surprised by the fact that she didn't get a single point of praise or gratitude. No, ' Thank you' and certainly not a 'Good job'. 

"Misaki," She whispered. "Let's roll!" 

(Y: N) allowed that familiar feeling to rush through her veins and make her heart squeeze in this intensely intoxicating way. She landed back on the ground in her suit and she opened the window and closed in quietly before bounding off to the city.

✽

"Panda isn't here yet," Chat noted quietly as his eyes stretched out, overlooking the endless street lamps and tall buildings. He could see the Effiel Tower glittering in the distance. 

Ladybug shrugged noncommittally and turned her attention to the moon. The brightness set her dark hair alight until it was almost fiery, and for some reason. Chat didn't find it breathtaking anymore. 

"We can do it without her." Ladybug's voice was levelled with an undertone of bitterness, Chat could tell she was trying her best to hide the tone and make it even. But her words made him frown.

"She's a part of our team." Chat insisted. 

Ladybug's bluebell eyes hardened. "No, _she_  isn't, she never was, she just wormed her way in." 

"I let her on the team." Chat pointed out with a frown.

"It wasn't your choice!" Ladybug snapped, turning towards Chat with a tightened jaw and cheeks red with frustration. 

Chat Noir stepped back, his eyes wide in shock.

"What's  _your_  problem?" Chat demanded, poking a claw at her chest. Ladybug slapped it away in disgust and huffed. Chat was expecting a response but Ladybug turned away and crossed her arms over her chest again.

"That's it then?" Chat growled. "You get to blow up in my face I don't even get to retort?" Ladybug's shoulders hunched and she turned to him, eyes blazing.

"You love  _me_  so why are you talking about  _her_!" She exclaimed, spit flew from her lip and she gritted her teeth, throwing her hands into the mix to emphasise her anger. 

"I'm not under your _command_ Ladybug, " Chat hissed back. "I thought we were a team, but apparently not," Hurt flashed in Ladybug's eyes and anger bubbled at the seams in the pit of Chat's stomach.

Ladybug looked mortified and guilty at the same time. A strange combination of hurt and confusion mixed in her blue eyes and she turned away sniffling. She threw her yo-yo onto a lamp post and sung off into the moonlight. 

Chat immediately felt befuddlement pour into the hurt spreading across his chest. Why had she waited until now, what about a year ago? What about before he developed feelings for (Y:N)? Why after Panda's arrival? Why now of all times? 

Why didn't she tell him how she felt when they first started fighting akumas? Maybe then his heart wouldn't have swayed.  He didn't love Ladybug anymore and he didn't feel a hint of regret, it was concerning.

Something heavy settled on his chest and he collapsed against the chimney, running his clawed hands through his wild hair. He was trembling in confusion. Who did his heart yearn for? Ladybug had taken his perfectly set out coffee table and flipped it into next week.

These past 5 months had been a vivid blur of laughs and chaos. Chat got along really well with Panda. She was smart, satirical and funny. She took shit from no one and made him laugh until he cried. She was a good friend, but only that. His heart belonged to (Y:N), or Ladybug...god he didn't know anymore. 

"What's wrong dark cat?" Panda chimed from the darkness. Chat jumped in his skin and almost poked himself in the eye at her sudden appearance. 

(Y: N) walked out from the dim light and the moonbeams struck her face and illuminated her playful eyes. Chat hesitated before answering, she looked so at ease in that moment. Totally opposite to fighting akumas all day long. 

"Ladybug." He muttered under his breath. 

Panda laughed and shook her head. "What about her?"

"Nothing in particular," He drawled out, his hands flopping onto his knees.

"Ladybug and I aren't the best of friends," Panda admitted. "But if you need to talk about something, your secrets are safe with me." Panda slipped onto her bum and brought her knees up and curled them into her chest, resting her chin against her kneecaps. Her panda ears flopped and wiggled against her head and she looked silly. 

He takes a moment to glance at her and he realises how close she is and he feels his brain click out of whack. The moonlight was spearing through the tassels of her hair, making her look shiny. Chat reels back a bit, not wanting to feel the warmth of her breath on his nose.

"What?" Her voice is muffled due to being tucked between her legs. He didn't know Panda as someone who was too good at making conversation that didn't involve punching someone or teasing him.

You could say she was socially inept. She never started conversations and eased back of serious subjects by lathering them in humour.  But the fact that she was jumping out of her comfort zone and attempting to reassure him was enough to make him feel better. In these moments he was grateful to be friends with Panda.  

"I don't understand how someone could hate you," Chat says genuinely, he couldn't fathom why Ladybug had such a growing hatred towards Panda. She made the two other heroes laugh constantly, she was great at coming up with abstract ideas and would never shy away from a fight. 

How could you hate someone that fought back akumas and protected civilians because she wanted to? How could you dislike someone who was so morally adjusted? 

Ever since he met Panda he'd been more at ease. She was a logical, easy-going hardass and he needed someone like that in his life. He needed some he spat straight facts and didn't care what people thought about them.

In some strange oxymoronic way, Panda reminded him of (Y:N). Even though they were completely opposite in personality, they were both level-headed and didn't care what others thought about them. 

His heart was indecisive and rushing across a deadly rollercoaster of emotions. He felt feelings for (Y:N) and the dwindling fire for his idol, Ladybug. He needed guidance and Panda was the only one offering. 

He needed to control the habits of his heart. 

Chat believed that he was falling for the shy girl in his class and he still had lingering feelings for Ladybug. 

"...I'm just...so confused." He mumbled but before he could continue her hands caught his wrist. To his utter and complete surprise, Panda reached forward and wrapped her arms around his torso. She pulled him in for a hug. 

Panda's warmth was comforting but at the same time strange. Panda didn't come off as someone who liked physical contact and struggled with expressing herself. But he found himself returning the embrace and finding solace in her rosewood shampoo. 

They pulled away and Chat stared at her flustered expression. She looked kinda adorable with red cheeks and floppy ears trailing in the wind. 

He would admit that Panda was easy on the eyes. She had a pretty face and long hair that settled on her chest. She also had this air of confidence that was intoxicating. 

The sudden beeping of Chat's baton ruined their staring contest and Panda turned away from his intense gaze and felt her ears burned.

"Ladybug?" He asked, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. 

"I'll keep this short," Was her gruff response. "The Evilistrator is going after a girl named Marinette. I'm sending you her address, you need to get there ASAP," 

There was a scuffling sound through the microphone and then someone cried out in pain. The call was ended and Ladybug's tracker disappeared from the map of Paris.

"Is she okay?" Panda asked as she stood up and dusted the rooftop dirt from her shorts. 

"I don't know," Chat said as he got to his feet. "But we need to get to Marinette's house, come on, I know the way. " He extended his baton and pulled her off the roof. They both landed back on their feet and bounded off into the distance.

✽

It didn't take long to get to the bakery and Marinette was on the rooftop as if she was waiting for someone. They landed down on the balcony trying their best not to startle the poor girl, but it didn't work. 

Marinette screamed in surprise, using her hand to muffle the sound as she tripped over herself. Panda struggled not to laugh and settled for raising an eyebrow as Chat helped the poor girl to her feet.

"Ladybug sent us here to look after you," Chat started as Marinette gained her bearings and caught her breath. 

"... Apparently, the Evilistrator has a crush on you or something....?" Panda asked, waving her hand in confusion as the sentence trailed off. 

"Yeah, he said he'd stop attacking Chloe if I went on a date with him."

"Wow, talk about blackmailing," Panda muttered. 

"So you're going on a date with the Evilistrator right?" Chat asked, ignoring Panda's childish comment with an eye-roll. 

"Nathaniel," Marinette corrected. "And yes I am," She said proudly making Panda grin and lean upon the power board. 

"Okay well..." Chat looked around suspiciously. "...Just get the pen away from him and we'll handle the rest." 

"Easy peasy," Panda said, fist-bumping Chat. Marinette raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. 

"Yeah...easy." She sounded a bit miffed. 

"You can do that right?" Panda queried with narrowed eyed. "Just bat your eyelashes at him and maybe give him a hickey or two, just to seel the deal." Marinette blushed several shades of red and shook her head vigorously.  

"I-I'm not doing that! No way!" She clenched her fists as her entire face went red.

"Chill dude, I was joking." Panda deadpanned. The baker-girl pouted and crossed her arms over her chest with an unimpressed look on her face. 

"You guys aren't very professional," Marinette huffed. Panda made a whining noise and her shoulders slumped in agitation. 

"You sound just like Ladybug," An expression of guilt washed across the Raveonettes face but she shook her head when Panda scratched the inside of her ear out of boredom. 

The plan went as well as you could expect. 

Marinette managed to seduce the Evilistrator into letting her draw on his kid-sized sketcher, but Panda was having trouble concentrating because Chat kept making funny faces in the water. 

He pursed her lips together and wiggled his eyebrows at her. Panda felt her face go read at their proximity but it settled down when he stuck his tongue out at her and blew spit all over her face.

"Chat," Panda giggled a warning and pushed him away from her face. The black feline stumbled a bit but regained his cat-like balance.

Marinette took the pen carefully, Panda could see her shaking fingers and the redness in her cheeks when she got too close to Nathaniel. She held it in her palm and Chat watched as an expression wiped across her face.

Marinette chucked it into the air and that's when the plan went into action. Panda leapt over the bridge as the boat surged underneath and pounced. 

The Evilistrator's eyes widened as Panda rolled forward and snatched the pen up.  She snapped it between her fingers and the instrument crumbled into dark little pieces. The violent Akuma flutter out and Panda caught it in her palms and purified it before letting it go.

Nathaniel slumped against the chair he was sitting in and his eyes fluttered shut. He looked a little pale and his hair was a birds nest, but he was alive and normal again. 

"Thanks for the help Marinette," Panda said giving her a high five. 

Chat jumped down from the bridge as it passed through again looking very pleased with himself. He had this strange yet adorable strut going on as he walked over to the girls.

"Another villain has been purged. The spectrum of good and evil has been balanced. Cat & Panda, the crime-fighting duo when Ladybug isn't around." Chat said in a deep directors voice making the girls laugh.

"Cat & Panda?" Panda arched an eyebrow. "Why not Panda & Cat?"

"It rolls off the tongue better." He claimed. 

"Aight, Chat," Panda taunted. "I better get going, I'm tired as hell." 

Chat pouted but nodded his head.

" _See you later."_ Panda yawns before waving them off and bounding off into the distance.

Why Chat found those words so endearing he didn't know. 

 

✽

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to google Chat Noir fan art to get inspired to write this chapter. I don't know why, but the show just ruins his hotness potential. They could've made him so much more good-looking outside Adrien's animation model. Trust me, the fanart proves my point.


	4. White & Green

✽

"Bravery, the act of courageousness, the quality that is applied to someone in the sense that they did something dangerous or frightening to help or protect someone else." Her voice hovered nervously as she looked down at her notes. 

The rest of the class had already completed their speeches on a specific topic. But theirs were filled with stutters and pauses and lots of 'ums' and 'ahs'. 

Adrien continued after her using a hand gesture to get Marinette's eyes to move from his face.

"Bravery and courage go hand in hand, like Chat Noir and Ladybug." He explained to make the class laugh. 

"But courage is a hard thing to grasp, how can you have courage if you are basing it on a dumb idea or decision, do you think it is courageous to follow orders blindly or do you think it is courageous to say something?" (Y: N) elaborated.

"Maybe they know what's best? What's right from wrong? But what is right from wrong even? A set of rules given to us by our superiors and we must abide by or perish? How do you become superior to someone else? How did one human gain a power over another, are we simply undesirable, incompetent animals to people higher on the economic food chain? Doesn't right and wrong come from someone's perspective, no matter how shadowed or morphed it may seem?" Adrien explained.

"But that all depends on who you are, how you were brought up, where you were brought up. Whether you were brought up on a farm, in Cambodia? Australia even,"

(Y: N) took a deep breath and side glanced at Adrien who was fidgeting slightly, she could tell he was nervous. He gave her a look and she smiled softly at him. 

"Any fool can have courage, rush into a battle with no intent of dying and then ending up dying anyway. But being brave, that's different. Being able to fight for something you believe and not just being pushed into a battlefield and handed a gun. Having bravery and courage is better than just having courage."

His lips pressed into a thin line and he watched the cogs tick inside (Y:N)'s mind as she remembered the last lines.

"Bravery is saying what you believe in.  Deep inside your heart. It's having honest communication with your self, your teams, your communities. Telling them what you think is the best course of action. Bravery isn't cold, hard and calculated, it's swayful and considerate and dwelling. Bravery is saying no when you know you need to." And with that, they finished their speech.

An eruption of sloppy and precise claps filled their ears and Adrien smiled, they had done a great job and everyone knew it.

"That was excellent you guys, very well done." The teacher deduced coming from the corner of the room and standing in front of the class like she usually did. (Y:N) found her spot at the back of the classroom again and sunk into her seat, feeling the redness dim from her cheeks. 

"As I've stated, make sure you've finished all the work for your science practicals because we are having a formative assessment on Thursday." The teacher said as she packed up her books and pens. 

She then went on to lecture everyone about the importance of organisation and tips to not find yourself procrastinating. (Y:N) zoned out through the speech and found her mind wandering. 

The bell suddenly rang in her eyes and caused her to jump in her seat. The blonde girl that sat up the front laughed at her. (Y:N) rolled her eyes as she started to collect her stuff, two periods of English really did fly by.

“What happened to the high school etiquette, freak?” Chloe snickered to herself.  Was that supposed to hurt her feelings? (Y:N) didn't even give her a glance as she swung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom. 

Alya giggled at Chloe's expression and Adrien blinked at the strange girl and sighed. She reminded him of himself and he felt justified to at least try and make conversation with her outside their forced partnership.

Picking up his stuff he watched as she raced down the stairs and opened the school doors and walked out to the steps. He followed in pursuit and found himself in a cat and mouse chase.

“Wait up!” He yelled making her freeze in her steps, which surprised him because he assumed she was walking fast on purpose just to get away from him.

She didn't question him or any of the sort, she just stood there and tapped her foot impatiently. Her eyes were captivating he would give her that much, the way they contrasted so differently. If he wasn't careful he probably could have got lost in them.

"Where are you going?" She gazed at him for a moment and then narrowed her eyes at him like she was trying to see through him and over to the basketball court. 

"Home." In hindsight, that was a stupid question and it made Adrien's cheeks go red. 

“W-Wait.” This was tough, he wouldn't admit it, but being a model had its perks, you could literally talk to anyone and it would be a smooth sailing conversation but this girl was just as pretty as she was stubborn. 

“What is it, _Adrien_?” The way it rolled off her tongue made him shiver and he blinked at her with jade eyes. She would never admit it, but Adrien was very handsome and the way he looked at her, with pity, it would have made her mad if it weren’t for the cute blush the formed on his face when she stared at him.

“I know that you're really shy and uncomfortable around people...” He said as he scratched the back of his head out of nervous habit. "But I...I would like to be your friend?" 

It came out as more of a doubtful question and she stares at him and moves closer. The scarf that is wrapped around her chin snuggly hides her mouth and her beanie coverers her eyebrows so Adrien can’t help but stare into her eyes.

“…You want to be my friend?” She asked quizzically. 

"You're impossible." Adrien deadpanned. 

(Y:N) smiled, it was small but Adrien saw it. (Y:N) turned back to the steps and looked down at her feet out of shyness. 

"We can...be friends then." She muttered. Adrien stood a little straighter and he felt his fists clench in surprise. His cheeks burned and his lips quivered.

"That's great!" He exclaimed. She flinched at his loud voice and he mentally winced as he backed out of her personal space. 

She waited for a whole thirty minutes for her father's car to pull up outside the school, counting the seconds in the back of her mind. She then came to the dawning realisation that he'd forgotten.

Again. 

Her smile dropped suddenly and Adrien sensed her almost instant change in mood. 

"(Y: N), are you alright?" Adrien asked. She turned to him with innocent eyes and a quiet expression on her face. She looked him in the eyes and nodded her head. 

"I'm good." Was her airy and soft response as she pushed down the hurt. The lump in her throat hurt to swallow but she managed as she fought back a tears.

It was a normal thing to feel that neglection inside her, but the sudden presence was so obscure and instant that she couldn’t stop the reaction.

Adrien cared enough to ask her if she was alright which she appreciated deeply. Maybe it was because he was just a good person that he asked her, or maybe he was genuinely worried. The thought made (Y: N)'s stomach flutter. 

She knew deep down that she was turning towards him, her heart was getting less cold around the edges and warmer, fonder. 

Adrien was turning her to goop.  But her index of love was far wider and vaguer than Marinette’s, she wondered if she even had a chance in his realm, there were so many girls that crushed on Adrien.

She stuffed her hands into her pockets and turned away from her friend. She hated showing any expression related towards weakness because she didn't want people to worry. 

She watched the lake through lidded eyes. The embodiment was flowing, living, rippling like the sunshine. It was almost scorching but that didn't bother her.

Leaves from the nearest trees or flower petals from the clipped and hedged bushes -- a maintenance that was downright neurotic -- floated gently in the aqua stream. The scenery would have looked beautiful to anyone. But (Y:N) was now in a foul mood. 

To her, the whole scene was making her numb with longing. She wished she could see something so beautiful every day. But her father was a walking, talking nightmare.

Gritting her teeth her lidded eyes fell closed as she had another cringe-worthy memory of the fight she had with father.

_ "We're moving." _

Words, that was all he was good for. That's all he would stay for, and he wanted her to follow him like a puppy.  He placed a large hand on her shoulder and looked down at her with distaste. She had swallowed thickly, remembering the last time she had felt a warm, paternal touch from her father.

Her fists had clenched and for once in her pathetic life she had spoken back to her father; might I add with a bitterness that would never be sweet. Shrugging his hand off her shoulder cavalierly she had pointed an accusing finger and glared: icy cold.

"You can't you do this to me, father: not after everything you have put me through." (Y: N) had yelled. "Pushing me away, flaunting me, abusing me! What makes you think I'd want to leave?"

"Why would you want to stay?" He scoffed. "You have no friends."

"I do have friends! You just don't fucking care enough to listen to me." That was it, the argument had flared the moment a cuss word had reached her lips. 

"How dare you speak to your father like that! I raised you!" He pulled her by the collar and attempted to lift her up. She slapped his hand away and stepped back. 

"Raised me did you?" She smirked in astonishment. "You couldn't act like a father even if you tried. You make trailer trash parents look like working-class heroes."

"How dare you!" He roared. 

"'I'd rather live in the streets than live with  **you.** " She spoke with venom and her eyes were crinkled at the sides in anger. Gritting her teeth as tight she could, feeling Misaki snuggling against her in a sorry attempted to soothe her sorrow and anger.

✽

(Y:N) wanted to be alone. Her thoughts were jumbled, her heart was shuddering and she knew she couldn't hold the tears in for long. She decided that she'd just walk around the city for a while before going home.

She sat down in a cafe, cried a little and drank some hot chocolate before opening her phone and scrolling through social media. After the coffee shop started to close, she was ushered out politely and started to make her way home in the shade of night. 

It was raining and she was lucky to have an umbrella in her backpack, she popped it open, some of the raindrops just missing the shade and splattering onto her face. 

But as she walked home in the middle of the night, the rain pouring down on her hair and fogging up her eyes, she felt a presence behind her.

It was a normal thing to feel an emptiness inside herself, but the presence was too obscure and instant that she couldn’t help but spin around. The person or thing caught her wrists and let out a laugh of surprise.

“Easy Princess, I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice reminds her of Adrien and she shivers at the thought. 

Why she was so caught up in that boy she didn't know, maybe it was because he was the only one that seemed to be genuinely nice to her and not know anything about her.

“Alleycat," She grunted out. "You surprised me.” 

How cute. 

She had already given him a nickname. He mused as she stepped into the light of the lamp post and he was most pleased with her reaction. Her lips thinned together and even though there was no blush, he could see her eyes widen a fraction.

That’s what he loved about (Y:N). Even though she was just like everyone else, blushing, flustered, embarrassed, clumsy and hormonal. 

She hid it so well which surged Adrien into the chase of perception, he loved finding out small clues about her, the way her eyes moved more then her head, her hair curling sweetly at the ends and the way her ears would brighten sometimes.

It had been months and he was still no closer to knowing anything of importance about her but he knew her reflexes and reactions. That explained why he was able to dodge her fast-moving body when she switched to Fight or Flight mode.

 “I could tell, purrincess.” He purred softly in her ear as he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist lightly.

 “What is a pretty girl like yourself doing out in the rain?” He cooed as he slipped the umbrella from her hands and held it above her head, his prominent height covering her shivering body.

He watched her eyes narrow. He'd always wondered what she thought of Chat Noir. Did she like or dislike him more than his civilian form, although she was more polite to Adrien then she was to Chat Noir...

He couldn't blame her, he was a bit over the top sometimes with his alter ego. But never the less he had an insistent curiosity to find out if she liked Chat Noir. 

He was extremely warm, that much she could tell and she made no reservation in moving his arms from her waist. She wasn't rebellious or risky, she knew she was in safe hands; he was a goddam superhero after all.

“Walking home.” She mutters as she reached for her umbrella and snatched it back.

“I can’t let a sweet little girl walk home alone, you could get attacked.” She rolled her eyes at his comment and she can’t help but stare into his jade eyes.

They were the most captivating part of his aura, they glistened playfully but had a sorrowful foundation to them which baffled (Y: N); how could someone so cool and awesome be longing for something?

Although she didn't have much room to talk.

Slipping from his grip she begins to walks down the streets yet again, until she hears the dreaded echoing of footsteps behind her. She pauses and turns around wiping the water from her face and dripping nose.

 “Look, you don’t need to waste your time on me. I’m not worth the trouble.” Chat Noir goes to speak but her incredibly melancholic sentence shuts him up and his eyebrows fly from his face along with his eyes widening to the size of saucers.

How could she think so lowly of herself when Adrien thought the world of her. 

 “ _Ma cherie~_ You are worth every minute.” He suddenly feels words coming from his mouth as he strolls up to her and scoops her into his arms. Her arms flail at first and she lets out a grunt of surprise but he is already leaping with all his strength and takes her onto the slippery rooftop.

He stumbles a bit but regains his balance. 

She tenses on contact and the umbrella retracts in her hand as they fall, wavering behind her. He sees her eyes widened again through and she blinks at him before an explosion of red covers her face. 

Adrien would have laughed in shock if he were not in the middle of a front flip. He lands on a rooftop and by the time he looks down again she as a frown on her face.

 “Do you even know where you are going?” She sounds pissed but amused at the same time and Chat kinda likes this side of her. (Y:N) was showing sassiness and Chat was actually getting something other than approving grunts to come from her mouth.

 “No, but I’m sure you can tell me purrincess,” He says in her ear and he watches them itch in colour. He smirks, a shit-eating grin and she mutters her address under her breath. His cat ears pick it up and suddenly they are bounding across rooftops in the slippery rain again.

 When they finally get to her house, he kicks open the balcony and slips her shivering body inside. He places her on the bed and takes a moment look around her room for the second time.

 “(Y:N)!" A voice booms. "Where the fuck have you been?” He watches her flinch and wince at the same time at the malicious tone. Adrien’s eyes widened and he searches her face for reassurance. He gets none.

 He swallows and starts to ramble and choke but before he could say anything else, she is pushing him out her window and slamming the lock shut. He hears a door fling open and ragged breaths.

 “You think because you came in the window I wouldn’t hear you?” Adrien’s mouth goes dry as he slips from the window sill and lands on the doormat outside her house.

 But he can’t help the sinking feeling he gets when he hears the dreaded slam and a loud crack come from her bedroom. It wasn't his business and he could've made things undoubtedly worse, but in that moment, something in his heart withered and died.

✽

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of reader and Chat action amiright?.


	5. Black Polka Dots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien gets to witness the cuter side of (Y: N). And the taste of ice cream.

✽

“Hey, Adrien.” (Y: N) murmurs as she opens the door for the handsome blonde. He gives a sheepish smile and rubs the back of his head. His hair is a little more ruffled than usual and he was missing his jacket. 

"Hey," Adrien chimed. "Are your parents home?” He asked as she opened the door just wide enough for him to squeeze through. He blinked a couple times as he looked at her completely polished and completely empty house.

"No, my father is out.” Adrien winced at her wispy sentence and he followed her soundlessly up the stairs. He had seen her room on multiple occasion as Chat Noir, it was cute enough. A large bed sitting in the middle of the room and various posters and books lay scattered across the floor.

Adrien knew that she enjoyed music and was subjected to some sort of torture due to her father not allowing her to play an instrument or listen to it while he was in the house. (Y: N) had told him that causally in class.

There were so many references to old-school bands. Some Adrien new, others not so much. She had such a variety in her choice of music. She had some Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepelin, Queen, Milky Chance, Toto, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and some indie artist named Mree.

Adrien remembered how much his mother loved to play and listen to music. He remembered how her eyes would crinkle at the sides when Adrien hit the wrong note on the piano.

A flash of memory overcomes him. He remembered a couple days ago when he'd lost his temper. Chloe had walked into class in an exceptionally bad mood. (Y:N) was standing by his side, looking through the notes in his book from the classes she'd missed.

It was a textbook case of caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Chloe had screeched and stamped her feet before yelling painstakingly awful things at (Y:N) and she stood there and took it all without complaint. 

She was as quiet as a mouse and when she finally opened her lips to speak Chloe threatened to get her kicked out of the school for being a 'disgusting runt'. 

Adrien had lost his temper, he couldn't believe Chloe could be so rude. Especially to (Y:N). His fuse had been carelessly snipped at the edges. Adrien had stood up, glared at Chloe something fierce and left.

No one had ever seen Adrien Agreste look anything but polite and cordial. No one had ever seen Adrien Agreste glare, or have an expression filled with scorn. And silence had filled the room once he left. 

“I set up the computer.” (Y:N) mumbled, snapping Adrien from his thoughts as she sat on her bed, her body jerking slightly as she settled.

“You aren't playing?” His voice was dejected and (Y:N) winced knowing she had dampened her friend's feelings. Shrugging she picked up the book from her bedside table and wormed the bookmark out of it.

"I’m planning on giving the title over to Max.” She said softly making Adrien smile. From the moment he'd met (Y:N) he'd always wondered if she genuinely didn't enjoy being in their rowdy class. But now he knew that she cared, more than she wanted to admit. 

She wasn’t expecting his smile to be so endearing, she felt her cheeks heat up and she looked down at her hands, flustered.  

“Why’d you play in the first place if you were going to give it back to Max?” Adrien asked as he set up the game and spun around in her wheely chair.

"I just wanted to have some fun...turns out I upset Max.” Her voice was hardly audible and he smiled at her again with those easy-going green eyes. 

A comfortable silence cut through the room as she turned her head away from his gaze and back down to the pages of her book. Adrien spared her one more glance before he turned around and clicked on the gaming icon.

The game loaded up with loud techno sounds and Adrien grabbed a controller from her desk and started to play. 

(Y:N) couldn't keep her gaze on the book and it kept wandering to the back of Adrien's head. He was a nice kid with a good heart. Every time she closed her eyes she was met with flashes of green and gold. Adrien and Chat were going to haunt her with their dapper looks. 

It made (Y:N) wonder who exactly was she? Which side of her was the real her? Was it Panda? The egotistical, flirty goofball. A superhero of Paris, someone who was admired, respected and popular to all.

Or was it (Y:N) (L:N)? 

An unlabelled, invisible girl. She wasn't popular, she wasn't edgy, she wasn't preppy and she wasn't a nerd. The girl who walked to school, sun or rain. The girl who only spoke when she was asked to. The girl was too shy to get three words out. 

She was confused with herself. She acted one way behind a mask and the complete opposite in the shade of a persona. 

It was quiet for some time, the whistling of wind through the window brought stimulation and the chimes that hung above her bed settled the intense atmosphere.

The sound of her flipping a page makes Adrien's eyes drift from the screen and to her face. Her expression was unreadable, but she looked cute. Her lip was slightly ajar and every now and then the wind would blow through the window and toss her baby hairs into her eyes.

Adrien holds his breath as the volume on the computer displays his defeat and (Y: N) glances over with raised eyebrows at the ‘Game Over’ title displayed on his screen.

“Wanna take a break?” She murmurs as she places her book on her bed. 

“Okay.” Adrien smiles as he gets up from the chair and follows her out. The sway of her hair hypnotising his eyes for a couple seconds and making him stumble. 

They go down a flight of stairs and pass a couple corridors and hallways before they find themselves at the front door. He watches as she crouched down to slip her shoes. Adrien's face flushed and he snapped his head to the side like someone had slapped him. 

Shaking his head with a stutter feeling in his chest he slips through the door and awaits his Ladies call. She walks out in her cute little white shirt and washed shorts and gives him a small smile.

His knees turn to absolute mush and he feels his neck burn with a flush.  He scolds himself for being so gooey around her. Adrien was perfectly composed around her when he was Chat Noir, but when he was Adrien, he was just a lump of flustered hormonal flesh.

“Ice cream?” She asked as she stepped ahead of him and opens her front gate.

"Sure..." Adrien frowns, unsure. (Y:N) walks down the pavement and steps over a crack in the cement and onto the sidewalk. Adrien merges inline with her and they stride --shoulder to shoulder-- down the pavement. 

“It’s a nice day today,” Adrien speaks up making her hum in agreement; he was used to her not talking most of the time so the fact that he got some sort of response from that made him smile internally.

When they got to the ice cream stand Adrien started to sweat. (Y: N) was walking directly towards André's ice cream stand. He felt his cheeks burn instantaneously. This was Andre's ice cream, specifically made to bring couples together. 

"Mademoiselle (L:N), it's good to see you." Andre smiled gleefully as his eyes trailed over Adrien. He purses his lips and his gaze turns wayward and smug.

"It's good to see you, André." Adrien was surprised by her level-headed response. He was also surprised that (Y:N) personally knew the best ice cream maker in Paris. 

"Cherry red for his lips and mint green for his eyes," André noted and (Y:N)'s face went bright pink and she started to fidget. André scooped up her dessert in a waffle cone. 

"And a new one," He notes. "What can I get you, my boy?" 

"They're really magical right?" Adrien asked. The look of childish delight in his eyes made (Y:N) smile from behind her ice cream and look down at her toes. 

"What do you think?" André questioned as he pointed to Adrien's chest, where his heart was thumping. 

"I think one has to believe." Adrien looked over at (Y:N) and her lips quivered and she shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. 

"You understand it all, my child!" André bellowed out making Adrien laugh.  André mixes up a strange concoction of colours and hands it to Adrien, the boy's eyes glimmer and he takes a long lick.

"On the house," André says warmly. "There's love in the air, I can see it."

(Y:N) looks over at Adrien hesitantly and he meets her gaze. They both blush at being caught and swerve their eyes away. Something electrifying shudders up (Y:N)'s spine and she absentmindedly licks her ice cream.  

(Y:N) had this uniqueness about her that was so invigorating that it Adrien want to know every little thing about her and swallow her up in the biggest hug known to mankind.  No matter how crass and socially inept she was, (Y:N) had still managed to wrap Adrien around her tiny little fingers. 

Her hair was down today, and fluffier than a kittens tail. Every time the wind blew it would send the tassels on a mission to Mars before they settled back on her face again. Her eyes were brighter than usual and her dark bags didn't look as sickly. 

“Stop staring.” She suddenly squeaks making him blink out of his fantasy.

1: Did (Y:N) (L: N) just squeak?

2: (Y:N) (L:N) is blushing because of Adrien. 

3: She has ice-cream dripping down her hand.

“I'm s-sorry, I just zoned out.” Adrien blushed wildly and he felt something flip in his stomach. That save was somewhat brilliant and he'd have to give himself a pat on the back when he got home. 

He eyed her carefully, the way her face softened and she nodded her head minutely. Whatever the reason for her smile, he was content and started to lick his ice cream. 

She laughed at his expression of awe and joined him in enjoying her little treat. 

“Rosewater, chocolate and vanilla.” He noted as ice cream dotted his nose making her roll her eyes. They walked to the park, occasionally chatting and Adrien shooting her shy smiles. She seemed more at ease than before and the aura that surrounded her was more subtle and less agitated. 

Her smiles were no longer a rarity.

“(Y: N)!” A sudden voice made her jump and her ice cream fell from her hand. She glanced up to where the voice was coming from and her eyes widened in disbelief.

There in front of her was a ginormous pyramid with two large robotic arms extending from it. People were running and screaming in fear and Adrien jumped from his seat and hurled (Y:N) by the arm with him, the robot shot a green beam in their direction and the bench they were sitting on disappeared into sparkles.

“That’s new.” (Y:N) commented gruffly as she got to her feet. Adrien grabs her hand and tugs her along the plains and onto the sidewalk and out of the grass as the akumatised victim shoots more and more star-bolts.

Her breathing was laboured and she felt perspiration drip down her neck, she was scared and adrenaline was surging through her veins. She didn't have anywhere to hide to transform yet, she needed to lose Adrien and the villain. 

“Well, well. (Y: N), let's see who is victorious this time!” Max said, his voice echoing through the air making her roll her eyes. She grunted as she scrambled over yet another bench, her hand lost its grip on Adrien’s and they split up.

Running through the gate and onto the street, the strange robot looking thing consistently shot star bolts at her, some licked at her heels, making her gasp and stumble to gain speed.

As she turned a corner, the black and green robot jumped ahead of her and pinned her metaphorically to the street. She froze up and her body wouldn't budge a millimetre.

“You made it to the end of the line, (Y: N).” Her eyes widened at the realisation of his voice. Something ice cold filled her veins and she shivered in guilt. 

Max really did want that spot in the tournament. Swallowing her heart in her throat she dodged another green bolt and dived for a nearby car.

A flash of black invaded her vision and Chat Noir pounced on him as he was distracted. He managed to lodge his baton into one of his sockets before it rebounded like a boomerang into his hand.

“Not so fast, we have a new challenger!” Chat yelled as he stood tall and proud on top of one of the various rooftops. (Y: N) blinked and she felt her anxiety fluctuate from her body and she allowed herself to breathe in.

“Chat Noir, over here!” (Y: N) called as he backflipped skilfully and landed very cat-like in front of the robot. His green eyes flickered over to hers and he winked at her as he jumped.

He landed in front of her face, his nose almost brushing hers and she jerked back as his hands curled around her waist as he picked her up. Her legs twisted instinctively and she wrapped them around his torso and buried her head in his shoulder.

He tensed slightly and something bubbled in his stomach. a scarlet blush attacked his cheeks that were hidden behind his black mask. Blinking, he leapt on top of the car and then extended his baton to jump onto the rooftop. 

A small yelp escaped (Y:N)'s lips at the jagged travel and when he suddenly stopped, her body lurched forward and she grunted in pain when her body slammed into his.

Unravelling herself, she let out a breath as she crumbled to her knees. Chat’s eyes widened when he saw small little tears that welled in the corners of her eyes. There were only two but he could see them so clearly with his cat-like eyes.

She wiped them away and staggered to her feet, her breaths were laboured and her cheeks were flushed. Chat waited until she was able to speak before making a sassy remark.

“Are you alright, _M'Lady_?” He cooed making her eyes snap up to look at him. She scowls despite the blush on her cheeks and she then feels her eyes twitch and guilt leap and crawl over her skin like spider-legs.

“I left my friend Adrien at the park, he could be in danger.” She said softly as she stared into his eyes. His heartbeat quicken as the word ‘Friend’ left her mouth and some sort of solitude and relief filled and released him.

The fact that she thought of him as the friend was enough to send him spiralling off the rooftop like a kite and then hit mach speed in the air and drift away.

“ _Ma Cherie,_ I thought I was your only friend~” He teased before getting an ample punch to the chest.

“I can have more than one friend you know.” She mumbled making his heart flutter and a grin spread across his face.

“Adrien is fine My Lady, he is in safe hands. But you wound me knowing that I am not your favourite kitty.” His eyes droop and he pulls a sad face

She karate chops him on the head with a deadpanned expression. He lets out a fake cry of pain and salutes with two fingers as he falls off the rooftop and black flips onto the ground.

“What a show-off!”

✽

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn't Adrien just a cinnamon roll?


	6. White & Red

✽

She woke up to the sound of her father's car roaring to life like a tiger in midday. She yawned as she stretched her bones and her eyes fell fuzzily on the alarm clock as she reached for the glass of water on the side of her bed. 

Sipping the drink clumsily, she squints and looks back to her clock. Eyes widening a smidge she scrambles out of bed and stumbles towards her wardrobe to throw on some clothes. She finds a pair of jeans sprawled under her rug, a crinkled grey tee-shirt and some mismatched socks. She then makes her way to the bathroom to shower and cleanse herself.

 She had an assignment with Alix due today but the hipster girl had set up a duel with Kim to see who was the fastest -- skates or on foot -- which meant she had to go to the stupid dare in order to get her work done.

Slamming the door on the way out she makes her way down the street to where everyone was meeting up. No surprise to the fact that Marinette was late with the banner and Alya was filming the entire thing. 

But Adrien being there was a surprise. Her cheeks flushed a little red.  She eyed the boy suspiciously as she walked over. Knowing his father's reputation she silently wondered why that rich kid was here of all places. Didn't he have some modelling shoot or errand to run?

Then again she couldn't really talk because she was here when she could have been doing so many other things that were more important and less time-consuming. Biting her lip gently she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shuffled towards the crowd.

 "(Y: N)?" Adrien seems surprised by the girl's appearance and he notices a sudden hesitance in her eyes as she grunts a simple greeting. He can't help but stare at he face, she looked like she had stumbled through an alleyway in the state her clothes were in. The bags under her eyes made her look fainter than usual. Adrien blinked and a blush flowered over his skin and he struggled to form words.

"Wow look at that, did your dad buy you those clothes, or did you find them in a dumpster?" Snorted Chloe making her roll her eyes as she brushed past them and stood next to Rose who was engrossed in the race.

 "Don't be rude Chloe," Adrien snapped as he followed her toward the front of the group, (Y: N) was blushing, Adrien could see her neck going red and it made him grin.  

"You hold this for me Alya, it's a present from my dad!" Alix says and Alya pulls a long face and glances towards Marinette who is holding up the banner.

"Here Marinette you take this, I'm filming this for my blog!" She says as she pushed the small metal jewel into the Ravenette's hand, she raises her eyebrows and inspects the object before sighing.

"I can't hold this, I'm supposed to be holding the banner- Woah!" Marinette fumbles with the intricately patterned object and it slips from her small hands. Adrien's reflexes kicked in and his hand shot out and he caught the metal circle.

“Need any help?” He asks with a cute smile and (Y:N) feels a gag rise in her throat and she rolls her eyes and crosses her feet together. A nervous habit she had picked up over the years when she couldn't express her feelings -- it wasn’t like she had anyone to talk to anyway.

Being a shy and anxious person made her come off cavalier at times which could be off-putting to some people. Partner that with a neglectful and abusive father and you have the epitome of social graciousness. 

 “Yeah thanks, gotta be careful! Even if you are amazing!" Adrien’s eyes widened and he looked beyond shocked, Chloe giggled.

 “Amazing at holding things!” Marinette soothed and Alix had just passed her last lap as Max declared the person who was in the lead.

 “Amazing at holding things?” Alya asked her eyes with an amused smile and Marinette visibly shuddered.

 “Adrikens~ What you got there, a super old case or something?” Chloe asked picking Alix's birthday present up from Adrien’s open palms.

(Y:N) placed her head in her hands and rolled her eyes. Nothing good was coming out of this mix and match set up and she could feel an accident coming on.

“Be careful! It’s Alix’s!” Adrien warned with wide green eyes.

“If it’s Alix’s it's probably worthless.” She scoffed and Sabrina nodded. Adrien pulled as face and Marinette demanded she hand it back, to which she rolled her shoulders and pressed her index finger to the middle of the strange pocket watch. It started to glow a brilliant blue and Chloe’s blue eyes widened in surprise.

She fumbled with it in her hands and it rolled past (Y:N)’s foot and she glanced at it and realised too late where it was heading. She attempted to reach down to for it but it was already out of her reach. 

Alix came ripping down the track and she slammed her wheels right over the silver pocket watch and it crumbled underneath her sheer force and mass. The springs coiled and the lid snapped in half and Adrien stared in awe of the situation as an unadvised celebratory Alix fist bumped the air.

Her eyes suddenly glued to the broken air loom and a look of disappointment and dread flowered across her tanned face. Her wheels sullenly rolled over to the mess of cogs and wires and she bent at the knees. 

Scooping the remains into her hands her anger lashed out at the people who were semi-responsible for the clocks demise and she snapped with harsh words.

 “Did you do this?!” She looked Alya straight in the eyes and stared, cold and hard.

 “I had to videotape the race so I gave it to Marinette but she had to hold the banner so she gave it to Adrien and then Chloe snatched it from him and dropped it and then you rode over it.” She hid half her face behind her phone and Alix growled as she got to her feet.

“My old man gave me this for my birthday! This watch was totally a family heirloom!”

 “Hold up Alix! We didn't mean any harm!”

 “As if," Chloe flicked her hair, "I had nothing to do with this, maybe if (Y:N) had caught it when it rolled by her then none of this would have happened.” She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

 Alix’s face snapped back and she stared at the girl with angry eyes.

 “You really hate me don’t you!”

(Y:N) stared at Alix with a flustered expression, her lips falling open and her cheeks heating up.

"...A-Alix I..."

"I don't want to hear it!"

"It wasn't (Y:N)'s fault!" Adrien defended, stepping closer to the stuttering girl. 

 “You can't just tell someone to hold something precious for you and yell at them when something bad happens! It's your responsibility." The class hummed at Adrien's diplomatic reasoning. 

"But I trusted you." Aliz reprimanded, stamping her foot as tears streamed down her face. (Y:N)'s lips thinned into a line at Alix's show of childish behaviour. 

"It was Chloe's fault!" Alya exclaimed 

"Stop trying to throw the blame onto one another." (Y:N) said. Her voice was uncharacteristically levelled instead of harbouring its usual shyness. 

"It was a mistake on both Alix's and our behalf. Everyone had the opportunity to stop the spiral of events. Even Alix could have stopped it before it even happened. But the air loom is broken and there is nothing we can do." The entire crowd went silent. Adrien was fairly certain that was the most amount of words he'd ever heard come out of her mouth. 

Alix’s eyes showed guilt and the crowd winced at (Y:N)’s the brutal truth. Marinette went running after the pinkette with a banner in one hand and her purse in the other.

 “Wow (Y:N),” Alya said awkwardly making the girl raised her eyebrows.

She was halfway down the walking track when she heard a sudden scream. She looked back to see her classmates running from their lives from a strange person in a spandex suit and a fiery helmet that covered her eyes. 

Blinking she saw Ladybug latch her yo-yo around her ankle and she slammed into the concrete steps and groaned. Ducking by a tree she snuck across the grass field to sneak a better look at the akumatised victim.

She instantly saw rollerblades and she groaned when she realised that it was Alix, she had most likely been really hurt by what she had said and what everyone else had done and that hurt turned into anger and then Hawkmoth must have manipulated her.

(Y:N) had nowhere to hide to transform, and she couldn't just do it out in the open without revealing herself. She prayed to the gods that Ladybug and Chat Noir could handle this by themselves. 

“Keep your hands to yourself.” Ladybug snapped as she tugged on the wire and sent her flying, her back slammed into a tree and she let out a groan of pain as Chat Noir backflipped to the bugs side.

“The Akuma is in her rollerblades, every time she touches someone she takes their life expectancy and turns it into time that she can use to go back to the past.”

“Those poor kids…”

“They’re goners if we don't capture that Akuma.” Ladybug finished as Timebreaker went zipping off again. Mylene in the process of trying to get away tripped on her jumbled feet and fell frozen when a hand swept across her spine, she spun around and pegged Ivan down as well.

All in the process Ladybug and Chat Noir were trying to catch up to her, blinking and ducking down behind the tree again, she heard the villain and heroes converse in an unhealthy conversation and Chat threw in a couple of cringe-worthy puns and Ladybug doubled the sassy remarks.

Breathing in through her nose; she banished the fear that crept up on her and blemished her skin and bones. Sweat lined her creased forehead and her rapidly blinking eyes found themselves dancing inside her sockets and she only looked back again when she thought the coast was clear.

 Alix came skidding towards the tree she was hiding behind and she saw Alya who was still filming the entire fight scene. Blinking again and swallowing the thick saliva in her throat she watched as the hand that controlled life lurched towards her classmate.

Pouncing from the tree she brought her bag up across the space between Time-breaker and Alya and her hand pressed down harshly against her backpack. The bag hit Time-Breaker in the face and she was sent skidding backwards.

Hissing in defeat (Y:N) grabbed Alya by the hand and flung her in the opposite direction towards the tree, far away from the akumatised Alix. 

 “Wow, who knew you actually cared!” Alix snapped making her wince as she dodged another one of her dangerous hands. She jerked her head to the side as her fingers came angling for her face and she grabbed Alix by the forearm and tossed her into the tree she was once hiding behind.

She knew it was risky to style on civilians in her civil form, but she didn't want to get paralysed.  And despite the fear sinking into her bones, there was a lingering adrenaline, similar to when she transformed. 

“Alix, I know this is my fault and I shouldn't have been so harsh on you, but taking away innocent people isn't going to help!” She tried to convince the girl.

 “Hah! Of course it is. That heirloom was priceless, I would do anything together it back.”

 “By anything do you mean sacrificing all your friends?” She inquired and a look of dread yet again swept across Alix's face and the costume the stuck to her skin like a leach started to bubble like cooking toffee and she raised an eyebrow.

That was until her stare went cold and rigid and her hand splayed out again, not suspecting another attack she fumbled on her feet and stepped back, but not in time to feel the brush of smooth leather against her face.

"(Y:N)!" A voice called out to her. 

She opened her eyes to see that feverish blonde hair was shading her from the onslaught and her eyes narrowed decisively and she let out a small whimper. Chat's eyes looked surprisingly scared, but it wasn't for himself. It was for her. 

Time-Breaker hadn't touched Chat yet though but she was getting there. So she had just enough time to wiggle her hand out and scrape her fingernail against Alix’s palm. Her vision immediately shut off and her body went instantaneously cold and tense.

 “Dammit!” Chat cursed as he kicked his leg out and booted Alix in the stomach. She flew back and hit a garden hedge, fazing straight through it and onto the concrete. 

Chat turned back to the unconscious girl in his arms and chewed his gums in worry. He knew that she would be okay with they captured the Akuma, but none of the less; seeing someone you have a crush on becoming comatose was a shocker. 

✽


	7. Red & Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Y:N) likes to hug Chat angrily because she doesn't have social skills.

✽

She wouldn't deny it and say she had a 'good' day. Being paralysed by an akumatised victim wasn't even remotely 'okay'. When they finally purified Alix, she was left feeling inexplicably numb and empty. 

It was instantly in the news that Panda hadn't shown up to help save the day and that slammed her in the bad books. People were asking questions about her effectiveness and stability in the team.

Was she just going to show up whenever she wanted? Where was the security for a superhero that just shows up when she wants? Misaki wasn't too happy about the news. She complained about humans being so quick to judge others. They didn't know any of the variables that applied to saving the world, of course they had to be reckless. 

Did normal civilians know how hard it was to have a double life and save people for a living? Did they know how hard it was to juggle everything and keep healthy?

(Y:N) found herself sitting on a chair on her balcony, pushing down bursts of tears while wrapped in a warm blanket. Her head tilted up to the sky as she began to distract herself with the twinkling stars. 

"Why hello there, M'lady." Someone called from the rooftops. (Y:N) jumped in her skin and turned to see Chat Noir balancing himself on the top of her chimney.

"Alleycat," (Y:N) breathed out in relief. 

"I came to check up on you," He hummed as he swung himself down and landed on her balcony. "How are you feeling?"

"...I could be better," She muttered as she wrapped her scarf around her neck tighter. "Thank you for asking."

"Anything for my purrincess." Chat said as he pressed his clawed finger under (Y:N)'s chin lifted her gaze to his own. When Adrien was Chat Noir, he had the confidence and attitude to back up bold claims. But it still felt strange flirting so flamboyantly around the shy girl. 

"How are you feeling, Alleycat." Chat grinned and sat down next to her, snuggling close to her blankets. She looked a little miffed and attempted to pull away only to have the dark cat pull her into his side.

"I'm great," He proclaimed. "Now that I'm with you." He watched her cheeks burn red as she curled tightly into her knees. Her ears burned all the way down to her neck and she refused to meet Chat's gaze.

"Ah, Purrincess, you're too cute." He slung his warm arm around her shoulder and nuzzled her temple with his masked nose.

He watched her face go to the colour of tomatoes. "...C-Cute?"

"Of course!" He grinned at her, showing his sharp cat-like teeth. She thought it was endearing how he tilted his head to the side and his eyes crinkled underneath the mask at the ends of his face when he showed a closed-eyed smile. 

"You're so shy! It makes everything you do so much more adorable!" He curls his arms around her torso and gives her a crushing sideways hug. Her arms bundle up awkwardly and her face squishes against his cheek.

"C-Chat!" She blubbers, the redness turning to the colour of pulsing sunburn as she struggles to squirm out of his grip.

"Lemme go!" She cries out, her arms flailing as he turns his head and nuzzles it into her warm neck. He feels her entire body shudder and her legs kick. 

"You're so warm and cuddly, M'Lady!" Chat laughs. "I couldn't possibly let you go." 

To prove his point, he pulls her even closer until they're face to face. He can feel the heat radiating from her cheeks and her eyes were small and wide with shock.

"C-Chat..." She trails off, her hands curling tightly against the blankets and her breath hitching in her throat. She looks away, her arm hesitantly snaking around his torso. She flinches for a moment before she tugs on him hard and buries her burning face into his chest.

Chat is too awestruck to move. His mouth fell open and he feels his heart pound out of his chest at her action. His breath hitched and his cheeks burned so bright the started to mimic her own. (Y:N) had never been physical with anyone ever. At least, not by her own actions. 

Chat knew her well. He'd observed her for months on end. She avoided anything that involved hand to hand contact, she always ignored mean words and people bumping into her in the halls. 

But she was the one initiating this hug, it sent Chat's heart pinwheeling with glee. He grinned stupidly and placed one hand on the back of her neck, pushing her head into his chest endearingly. 

She worms her arms away and they come straight back into her lap. Her shoulder hunch over and she glares down at her hands, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. 

"My Lady," He whispers. His heart was beating too fast for him to cope, it felt like someone had grabbed his heart and lungs and squeezed them until they exploded. The flushed and innocent look on her face was pushing him closer and closer to sealing the gap between them. He knew it was impulsive, and he knew it could ruin everything. But she was too goddam irresistible.

"I-I..." She tried to speak but her voice broke when she looked back at him. Chat cupped her red face and pulled her close until they were so close that he can see her eyes shaking and the marks on her nose. 

The claws on his hands strum back and warmth of her cheeks carefully, like he's scared she's going to push him away or crumble into small pieces of china. 

She sees his eyes in a different light. Their normal feral demeanour has changed to one of affection and panic with a strange hint of cheekiness. 

He looked evilly handsome in the moonlight, his blonde hair was more dishevelled than usual and looked like flakes of gold. His face was leaving her breathless, especially with that cute smile and those flushed cheeks. 

She caught a whiff of spearmint, soap and limes from his neck. He was invigorating and her heart started to flutter and spin like a hamster on a wheel. 

"I..." Chat trails off as he grips her chin and pulls her up, the gap between them closes and his lips gently push against her own. A shiver of electricity goes up her spine and tingles through the roots of her hair.

She had never understood lip-to-lip contact before. But now, with his lips softly pressed against her own, she could feel her heart race. It was the single most intimate action anyone had ever shown her, and he was so incredibly cautious with his movements. 

(Y:N) cursed herself for being so inexperienced with this foreign but at the same time good feeling. The way Chat kissed her made her feel inexplicably special, he was swaying her with his lips and it wasn't even heated, it was subtle and chaste. 

She found her palms getting instantaneously sweaty against the clutches of her blanket and the blush travelled from her cheeks to her neck as she closed her eyes and hesitantly moved back against his own. 

"How is this?" He stuttered, his clawed finger reaching the underside of her chin, and pulled her eyes to meet his gaze.

(Y:N)'s stuttery breath hitched, but she didn’t protest. His mouth fell along the bottom of hers, resting on her chin. That small notion of affection sparked something inside her.

She knew about Chat Noir, the media didn't hide it. Everyone knows he's a giant flirt and an egotistical heartbreaker of sorts. With his dapper looks and knee-wobbling grins, every sane girl had a crush on him. 

But the way he was kissing her, so intimately, so breathlessly, it made her feel the greatest kind of special. 

She liked his kisses; they were nice and slow, warm and gentle. He didn’t pucker his lips as much as she thought he would, which felt wonderful.

As soon as his lips retracted from her own, he leaned back slightly, searching her expression for any signs of distress before hesitating over her again. (Y:N)'s eyes widened the smallest fraction and she leaned forward, her knee slipping on the bench. 

Chat's cat-like reflexes lived up to their name and his hand caught her side and he pulled her up, effectively silencing her gasp with another closed-mouthed kiss. 

A warmth spread across her entire body and she jumped slightly. He separated his lips from hers momentarily, feeling the flush of his choppy breath on her face. 

”You want to...?" He murmured. (Y:N) flushed pink and nodded slowly, finding it hard to form a sentence with the stimulation on her lips. He planted his own back to their right spot and she muffled a sigh. 

She was shocked when she felt his mouth open slightly, and his tongue slide against her bottom lip. A small squeak escaped her which unintentionally opened her lips. 

While her mouth was open, Chat slowly slithered his tongue in. He tasted like celery and supplement water. She shivered, allowing him entrance. 

After a moment, his tongue moved to caress the top of her mouth, and her entire body flushed and a small noise slipped past her barricades. The sensation tickled, and she strained herself a little too hard trying not to laugh and her sweaty hands drifting from the placing on her thighs and she fell into him. 

His other hand came to her waist to keep her steady, his green eyes widened in alarm at her extremely flushed face. They broke away for a second before he swooped back in. He continued to caress the sides of her mouth until she properly adjusted, pausing every so often to open his eyes and gauge her reaction.  

(Y:N) shifted herself towards his body and hesitantly raised her shaking hands to curl them around his collar and pull him softly closer. 

She felt her entire body reacting to something so strange and foreign. Her face was flushed a permanent shade of deep pink, and her lungs were burning in dire need of oxygen. 

“You okay?” He whispered softly. She pecked at his lips shyly before completely withdrawing back into her blankets. 

“Yeah,” Was her hardly audible response. 

Chat’s slightly swollen and red lips stretched into a wide smile. “Does that mean we can do that more…?”

(Y:N) turned her head to the side a little, not looking at him, and bit her lip. She felt hesitant to answer, almost scared at his glittering, childish eyes that suddenly reminded her of a completely different person. 

She didn't know Chat Noir all that well, even though they were teammates in fighting crime. She wasn't her alter ego, she wasn't brave, confidence and sassy Panda.

She was shy, quiet and simple (Y:N) (L:N). 

But for some reason, all of those variables didn't waver her opinion. Despite Chat being a notorious flirt, a complete cringe-lord and a goofy idiot. She found herself falling for the dark kitty. 

After a moment, she glanced up at him and nodded. His once panicked but patience expression spread out into an excited grin. 

"Yeah." 

She'd never seen the kitten smile so wide. He launched his arms around her and squeezed the soul out of her. Holy Jesus she'd never been hugged so hard...

✽

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Chat Noir fanart. Seriously, there are so many heart jerking sketches...and adorable ones as well :


	8. Green & White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation protect (Y:N) from the scary outside is-a-go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was just wanting to inform you guys in case you were confused. This story doesn't go from the actual timeline. It just has bits and pieces of from Akuma battles mixed in for whatever I feel is needed. And spoilers from season 2 if you haven't seen it : D 
> 
> And, I hope you've had an awesome day. And if you haven't, I hope this cheers you up a lil bit : )

✽

"(Y:N)." Someone called her name and she snapped from her adherent thoughts. "You're zoning out again."

Her eyes fazed back from their glassy stare to see Adrien poking her cheek and smiling at her with a friendly warmth. 

“I was just thinking,” (Y:N) muttered as she turned her attention back to her open book and sprawled papers.

Adrien had asked her if they wanted to study in the library during their free period. (Y:N) had some biology homework to catch up on and Adrien had Chinese after school so he wanted to study.

“Thinking about what?” Adrien asked with a shy smile. (Y:N) felt her cheeks flush and she stared down at her textbook. There was no way she was letting a single word slip about her intimate moment with Chat Noir. Even though it had been a couple weeks since she’d last seen him, it was still fresh in her mind.

“Just…school things.” She said as she scribbled down the next answer in her notebook.

“Are you sure?” Adrien leant over the table and into her personal space. (Y:N)’s stomach fluttered and she jerked her head away from him and nodded.

“I’ve had too many days off this weak, I really need to catch up.” Was her explanation.

Adrien frowned. “Yeah…you have been missing out a lot. Any particular reason why?”

“I’ve been…sick.” She said gruffly, Adrien noticed her hesitance to answer and decided to drop the subject altogether. He knew things he couldn’t bring up without causing suspicion. As Chat Noir, he’d heard things in her house, yelling, screaming, scuffling. As Adrien, he'd seen their broken conversations. 

He knew she didn’t have a good relationship with her dad. He just wasn’t sure how far the hate went. Or maybe he was too scared to even think about (Y:N) being treated that way. God, he couldn’t even think of the word let alone say it.

(Y:N) went back to reading the lines of her textbook and scribbling down highlighted notes. Her hair was down in a plait today and she looked even more adorable than usual. Adrien had thought it was impossible for that to happen, but coupled with some dark jeans and a baggy sweater, she looked like a cuddle machine. 

“C’mon Marinette,” Alya assured. “Just ask him, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“I can’t Alya! What if he s-says no, or he’s too busy. What if he likes (Y:N)? What if they’re on a date?!” Marinette blubbered nervously from behind a library shelf.

Alya frowned and rubbed her chin with two fingers. She didn’t know a single thing about (Y:N). She was supposed to be the journalist of the class, but when it came to (Y:N), she was clueless. They had never had a conversation, (Y:N) hardly spoke in class and she was always late or away.

However, Adrien seemed to be completely infatuated with her. Alya couldn’t fathom what made her so interesting but she knew for a fact that Adrien had a profound sense judgement. He was very intuitive and astute. (Y:N) was cute and really shy. But she had no amazing qualities about her.But Alya couldn’t lie to Marinette, even though she didn’t know all the facts.

“Hey Alya, hey Marinette,” Adrien said warmly as the two girls approached their table. (Y:N) looked up from her intense studying and gave the two girls a once over.

She liked Alya and Marinette well enough. Alya was smart, funny and frank. Marinette was fierce, confident and sassy. At least, when she wasn’t around Adrien.

Even a blind man could see she had a crush on him.

“Hey Adrien, hey (Y:N).” Alya waved happily.

“H-Hi?” Marinette spluttered awkwardly making Adrien raise an eyebrow. 

“Hello.” Was (Y:N)'s almost inaudible reply.

“Marinette and I were wondering if we could join you to study,” Alya said as she slipped into one of the spare chairs. (Y:N) ungracefully moved her books over in a clutter to make room for Marinette.

“Mari here needs help with her bio homework.” Alya nudged her dark-haired friend and the girl scratched her arm and awkwardly sat down next to (Y:N).

“You’re in luck then. (Y:N) is great at biology.” Adrien offered with a smile. Marinette’s smile dropped for a millisecond before it awkwardly spread across her face again. (Y:N) could instantly tell Marinette was disappointed. Everyone knew that Adrien was a whiz at science and she was head-over-heels for the blonde model.

“U-Um, sure,” Marinette said as she turned to fish around in her backpack. She pulled out her torn textbook and some crinkled papers. (Y:N) stared at her, shocked by her lack of organisation. Marinette flushed red and placed her stuff down in a hurry.

“Awh, I forgot my pencil case.” Marinette pouted. (Y:N) nodded her head minutely and reached into her bag and pulled out a ballpoint pen. Marinette stared at the offering before taking it and thanking her.

“So, what don’t you understand?” (Y:N) asked softly, tugging on the sleeves of her jumper nervously.

“Oh uh,” Marinette blushed again. “…Everything?”

✽

"You did great today." Adrien complimented as they walked out of the lunch hall. (Y:N) scratched the back of her head and smiled down at her shoes.

"You think so...?" 

"I know so!" Adrien insisted as he places a warm hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you overcame your anxiety and helped Marinette today, it was really brave." 

Adrien's sweet words made (Y:N)'s heart do summersaults and she flushed almost angrily. Adrien was always supporting her with her shyness, gently pushing her in the right directions. She appreciated it more than he would ever know. 

Ever since they'd been partnered up they'd been getting closer and closer. She was comfortable around him and it was safe to say they were friends. 

Despite her crush, she was smart enough to compose herself and not stutter like an idiot. Adrien wasn't the centre of her universe, but he was the only planet she wanted in her galaxy currently. That and Chat Noir.

"Thank you," Was her soft response as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the start of fifth period. A cry of laughter resonated from the lunch hall and then a stampede of kids came rushing from the exit. 

(Y:N) paled as she swerved into Adrien, avoiding being the next Mufasa. The blonde caught her by the hip and pulled her right out of the way of the screaming kids. One was riding ontop of someones shoulders with shoes around their hands. 

Their school was the definition of rowdy. Why did he have socks in his ears and shoes on his hands? Why did he have a taco half-way in his mouth? 

"Adrien!" A voice called from the crowd and Lila squeezed her way out and came rushing over. 

(Y:N) didn't like Lila all too much. Maybe it was the fact that she was a compulsive liar and loved attention, no matter the cost. Or maybe it was because she was a non-stop flirt around Adrien. 

The olive-eyed girl bounded over and flung her arms around Adrien much like Chloe would. Lila shoved (Y:N) out of the way carelessly like some play toy and she lost her balance.  (Y:N) stepped back to accompany the new room of the chestnut-haired vixen and was inadvertently trampling herself.

Another burst of kids exploded from the luncheon hall and bolted for their next classes. Some were screaming and throwing books, others were covered in water. 

Someone blind-sided her from the left and sent her spinning like a ballerina. She stumbled back and walked into someone else, their shins collided and (Y:N) fell flat on her ass, head hitting the tiled floor. 

A stabbing feeling erupted from the side of her head and she groaned as pain filled her ear and pulled her sore jaw. She blinked back a kaleidoscope of stars and black blotches as her bearings collected themselves.

"Are you okay?" Adrien rushed his words as he shrugged Lila off and crouched down. (Y:N) pulled a funny expression and her head began to spin. A headache came marching into her brain and started to tap dance on the swelling ache that was roaring in her ears. 

"I feel..." She trailed off dizzily as she removed her cupped hand from her ear and saw red all over her fingers.

"Jesus," Adrien breathed out. "You're bleeding." He placed the back of his hand against her forehead and his green eyes widened in concern. She could feel a sickly warm liquid trickling down her ear and her neck started to sway.

"What's wrong with you?" Adrien turned back to Lila who was staring at the scene in confusion. "You can't just shove people." 

Lila's eyes widened and she gaped at the model. Obviously, she'd never seen Adrien get angry. It was quite the rarity, and (Y:N) would have also been shocked if she wasn't imaging flying pigs and rainbows tiles on the floors. 

A woozy feeling started to stir in her temple and a groan slipped past her. It felt like someone had slammed her over the head with a bleach container. And the bruises on her arms, neck and legs seemed to pulse even more angrily than before. Adrien blinked in surprise and scooped the now unconscious girl into his arms. 

"Go tell Madam Bustier that (Y:N) won't make it to class," Adrien said as he got to his feet and steadied (Y:N )'s bobbing head with his arm. Lila nodded her head vigorously and bolted for the stairs. 

Adrien stretched his back and started to make his way to the nurse's office, carrying (Y:N) carefully and cradling her head. He could see the blood pooling around the lobe of her ear, and the sickness in her expression.

He made it to the emergency hall and shuffled the door open with his hip. Immediately someone was at his side. An older woman with crinkles near her eyes. 

"Oh my," The nurse gasped. "What happened to this poor young lady?" 

"She got pushed and hit her head," Adrien said as he followed the woman into the sickbay to a bed with clean sheets. The room smelled like antiseptic and dentist water. It made Adrien gag. 

He laid her down as instructed and chewed his lip. He hadn't noticed it as clearly before, but when she was asleep, the bags under her eyes looked worse and her cheeks more sunken in. 

"She'll be alright sweetie. Just let me fix her up and let her rest." The nurse assured as she dragged a rolling chair over to the bed. She checked (Y:N)'s temperature, wiped the blood from her ear and bandaged the bruised area with a healing agent.

"You can go back to class now," The nurse said softly as she wiped the dried blood from (Y:N)'s chin and lip. Adrien frowned and looked down at her peaceful face.

"I would like to stay," He said shyly. "If that's alright?"

"Of course it is, I'll phone your homeroom teacher and tell her where you are. I'll be right back, I'll also have to call her parents." The nurse babbled on with a smile. She then got up and rushed from the room and into the secretary office, past Mr Damocles. 

Adrien sighed and relaxed into the chair. He tore his gaze from the fleeing teacher and back to (Y:N)'s expressionless face and easy breathing. He wondered what would happen when she got home, he wondered how her father would react.

He was scared. He felt like he couldn't do anything, it wasn't his place to stick his nose where it didn't belong and he was only assuming things that could be wildly off the mark. He didn't have any facts that (Y:N) was actually getting abused by her father 

But he was worried. He didn't want her going back to that house after getting injured. His heart started to ache and he closed his eyes, shoulders slumping in defeat. He felt useless as Adrien, he had to keep up all of these appearances to please his father. 

His father didn't want him to ruin his reputation. If he poked his nose into (Y:N)'s tumulous relationship with her father, it was surely going to make her hate him, or avoid him. Something along those horrible lines. 

Sighing through his nose, he reached out touched (Y:N)'s cold cheek. His fingers glided up her soft skin and across her jaw and up to her lips, hovering slightly above, her warm breath hitting his fingers. 

Adrien felt his cheeks flush as he started to trace her mouth, her thin and slightly chapped lips, most likely lined from her lack of care in her appearance. 

Touching her face was almost therapeutic, and a little wrong. He knew (Y:N) would never let anyone this close to her, except for his alter ego in the heat of the moment. A memory flashed through his mind. Her flushed face and swollen lips, it made him swallow and slump again.  

Would she ever kiss him as Adrien? Had the thought even crossed her mind? 

But tracing every shape and curve of her bone structure sent him into this strange fuzzy warmth. Adrien smiled, sighing deeply through his chest and lifting his hand away from her skin and bringing it down to his neck. 

He drew shapes on her covered throat with his index finger. The girl squirmed a little and he drew his hand away. Her eyes crinkled for a second before they fluttered open slightly, half-lidded with sleep and drowsiness. 

But she was conscious enough to notice Adrien hovering over her. His breath hitched and he waited for her to push him away or scramble from the bed in embarrasment. But (Y:N) smiled lazily and shifted back into her dreams, a mumble translated into his name falling from her lips. 

✽

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't Adrien and (Y:N) so cute!!!!! 
> 
> SQUEEEEE! But Chat and (Y:N) are cute as well. 
> 
> And Chat and Panda are a pawsome duo when Ladybug isn't around...
> 
> Omg which of the love square do I ship the most...;D
> 
> Obviously Chat and (Y:N)!!!


	9. Black & Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A debate in class gets a little out of hand.

❁

"I'm really sick of all this garbage music." An American exchange student quipped from the desk over. (Y:N) raised an eyebrow at the girl and continued to write her answers down. 

"Ugh," She threw her hands in the air. "Who would even listening to this unironically." 

"Lots of people like Jagged Stone, Jordan." Marinette offered as she handed her a science textbook. 

"He has no lyrical value, all it is guitar and drums," Jordan complained as she slammed her laptop down with a huff.

"Songs don't need vocals to be good." Nino insisted. 

(Y:N) really didn't want to be apart of this conversation so she sunk back into her seat and hid behind her school jacket.

It was a chilly day today, the sun was out but the wind was cold. Adrien was forced to skip the double practical lesson for a photo shoot so she was sitting by herself on an empty table. 

(Y:N) had been forced into walking to school for the past week. Her father had refused to drive her to school after her incident in the infirmary, saying that if she could take a hit to the head that she could drag her legs a couple kilometre. 

(Y:N) was happy to walk, but it wasn't that nice to be half-conscious stumbling through the snow and rain. (Y/N) would never understand why he was such an angry man, and taking out all his rage on her had become a given. But as of late, it was becoming increasingly harder to hide her bruises. Even her injured ear should've healed over by now, but from the barrage of punches she would face on a daily basis had forced her into more and more bandages. 

She was glad no one ever asked questions because she didn't have a properly formed answer. The fact that her father beat her, after wallowing his sadness in liquor, was a hard topic to talk about in general. 

It seemed almost...instinctive to him. And he'd blame (Y/N) for every conceivable problem or challenge he faced. 

Her father had seen women who were beaten, he'd seen his mother beaten, he'd seen her get her arm broken, with black eyes, bloodied teeth.  

No matter how much she would avoid him, and do everything he wanted. She would always end up on the floor shuddering in pain. She could do nothing to stop him.   
  
What could she do? Where would she go? How would she survive without him? 

"(Y:N)?" Someone poked her shoulder and she jumped from her thoughts and vaulted sideways and almost fell off her chair. 

"Hah!" Chloe snorted. 

"Are you alright?" Marinette asked, her blue eyes wide with concern. 

(Y:N) felt her skin flush and she swallowed thickly, looking down at her hands wishing she could just disappear into the ether. 

"Stop laughing at her," Alya demanded. "That's rude."

" _Rude_?" Chloe rolled her eyes. "Clearly you haven't seen my rude side hun." 

From the strange language known as 'Girl-Talk' (Y:N) knew that when a girl called you sweetheart or honey, it was far worse than being called a bitch or a whore. 

"Trust me, sweetheart, everyone has seen that side of you. Or maybe it isn't even a side." Alya quipped back. "You're just always a bitch." 

(Y:N) didn't want to have anything to do with the brawl that was building up. She was too shy to say anything. She doubted anyone would hear her anyway over their screaming match.

"Back to your seats please." Madame Bustier said as she walked back into the classroom with her bag. The science teacher has just gone out the door and since they had the same classroom the teens were left to their own devices for a couple minutes. 

"Today we are going to do some debating games," The class groaned as Madame Bustier settled down into her chair.

"Now now class, I assure that these games will be fun." Her face twisted in amusement. "And maybe a little controversial." 

She settled her papers down on her desk chair and folded her legs. (Y:N) turned her attention to the door as it swung open to reveal Adrien, his hair a little dishevelled. 

"Sorry I'm late, Madame." Adrien spluttered as he tried to catch his breath. His white jacket was off despite the cold and his cheeks were flushed. (Y:N) had to force herself to look away in fear of blushing more. 

"That's quite alright Adrien, you late-arrival note was already sent to the office via email." The teacher stood up from her desk and walked around the front. "Please take a free seat." 

Adrien scans the crowd for a quick second before he walks over and slides in next to (Y:N). She wiggles over a bit more to compensate his body, shoving her sprawled books along with her. 

"Hello, Adrien." (Y:N) mutters under her breath, eyes staying glued to her books. She feels his body move in her direction and she sneaks a peak.

"Hey," He smiles at her softly and his cheeks get a little bit pinker. She would have questioned it if Ms Bustier hadn't continued her lecture. 

"One adjective to describe each person in our class. Now I'm assuming we are all going to be respectful in our approach. And If I hear any childish name calling or nasty comments, you'll be sent right out of class." 

Chloe looked appalled and was about to raise her hand but Madame Bustier kept talking. I tried to hide my smile, but it was almost impossible with the stupid look on her face. 

"How is this related to debating?" Max queried from one of the back rows. The teacher looked happy at his question and handed a stack of papers to Sabrina at the front of the class to hand out. 

"Excellent question Max. You guys will be able to rebut and persuade each other into voting your way. Someone might put their hand up and volunteer....ah, Marinette." The classes eyes turned towards the dark-haired girl from the second row.  "They may claim that she is a kind -- you can either agree or disagree, but if you chose the latter you must have a reason." 

"Everyone understand?" Madame Bustier asked. Nods and murmurs of approval filled the room as (Y:N) closed her notebook and zipped up her pencil case. 

"May I start, Ms Bustier?" Ivan asked from the front row next to Mylene. 

"Of course," She smiled. "Give us your opinion, Ivan."  

"Uh, I think that Nino is the classes resident DJ." Cheers whooped across the room which was soon followed by laughter. 

"Ivan, that isn't describing Nino's personality but I get where you are coming from." The teacher smiled.

"Are you kidding me?" Jordan demanded. "There's no way Nino has better music taste than I do."

"Are you sure?" Kim teased. 

" _Puh-lease_ , he listens to rap and future bass!" Jordan exclaimed exasperatedly as she flicked her hair. 

"Madame Bustier, I have a word to describe Nino's personality," Alya said, waving her hand to cut off Jordan's rant. Nino looked back nervously and scratched his neck.

"He's intuitive! He knows what everyone enjoys listening to, he's liked by all."

"By all?" Chloe huffed. "Speak for yourself, Césaire." 

"Chloe," Madame Bustier warned. "I think you're right Alya, does anyone want to object to Nino being an all-around likeable person?" 

No one spoke up and suddenly the DJ was beaming. He looked over-the-moon and (Y:N) couldn't help but smile.  The American-exchange student huffed from the front row and crossed her arms over her chest.

Nino smiled awkwardly and looked towards the front of the class, ignoring Jordan's brooding. 

"Alya, who would you like to nominate?" The teacher called as she noticed the girls raised hand. 

"Marinette." She stated. "I think Marinette is a great leader." 

Murmurs of agreement fluctuated around the room and Marinette flushed bright red and started to fiddle with the ends of her jacket, pinning and unpinning the fold. 

"Well that was settled quickly, I can personally agree with that one." Madame Bustier smiled. "Good Job Alya." 

"The next person?" 

Eyes scanned the room, going from person to person. (Y:N) pulled her jacket over her tighter and sunk further into her seat. Adrien glanced at her and shook his head --amused at her actions.

"I think that Adrien is really kind!" Rose chirped from her spot next to Juleka. Everyone turned back to the small girl and Adrien flashed her a gentle smile. 

"Here, here!" The class chanted. That was until Chloe's manicured hand shot up and everyone's attention was drawn to it. 

"I think Adrkins is handsome," Chloe said, batting her eyelashes. 

"Being handsome isn't a personality trait, Chloe." Madame Bustier said with a shake of her head. The class erupted into giggles and Chloe's face flushed with embarrassment 

"Oh!" Mylene piped up. "I know!" 

(Y:N) liked Mylene, even though she was a little too naive for her age and sometimes stumbled with her words. She was pleasant to be around and a good partner with assignments. 

"I think (Y:N)'s really shy." She said, shooting the flushed girl a small wave. 

"More like a loner," Chloe snorted out. 

"Chloe!" The teacher hissed out another warning and the mayor's daughter sunk back into her seat and turned her head away --huffing. 

"I think she's the most level-headed person in our class." Alya rebutted making the chatter die down. (Y:N) felt her ears burn and she buried her face in her scarf, simply wanting to disappear. 

"This is so stupid!" Jordan yelled from the front row, slamming her palms down on her desk as she stood up. A silence came across the room as the kids stared at her outburst.

"Ms Rodgers," Madame Bustier began to say but the teenage girl just puts her hand out to silence her. Jordan snatched up her stuff and let out a roar of outrage, stomping out of the room in a hissy-fit. 

"Oh-kay," Mrs Bustier drawled out as she turned back to the class. "On to our next debate. I'll deal with Ms Rodgers later." 

The class levelled with murmurs. The papers that had been handed out were writing criteria for some sort out-of-class assessment. 

"This is going to be homework, it's pretty simple and I'll be showing you exactly how to do it in class." Madame Bustier turned and clicked something onto the whiteboard. It was a picture of Chat Noir, Panda and Ladybug leaping into action, mid-frame. 

"The topic will be: The Superheroes of Paris." The class hummed in appreciation and chatter started to float around the room.

"Settled down everyone." The teacher scolded. "The aim of this topic will be to identify the risks and effectiveness of having Superheroes helping Paris. Should we let three masked vigilantes run around saving us or leave it to the professionals?"

" _Effectiveness_? You're talking about Panda missing out on Akuma fights aren't you?" Chloe said with a flick of her head. (Y:N) swallowed thickly and her eyes widened, she felt a tug from her jacket pocket. 

Misaki didn't seem very happy about that statement. 

"She's a panda! They're lazy animals. It's quite obvious that Panda just isn't up to par with Ladybug and Chat Noir." 

"But she can purify Akuma just like Ladybug!" Alya defended. 

"When she finds the will to get out of bed." Chloe snapped back making half the class giggle. 

"Chloe's right!" Kim remarked. It was rather unsurprisingly that he agreed with his crush. "Panda has one suit life per ability! She's practically useless without her bamboo baton."

(Y:N)'s jacket pocket lurched under her palm and her eyes bugged. 

"You could say that about Chat Noir and Ladybug then as well! Your argument is invalid!" Alya said. Madam Bustier had a smug grin on her face as she watched the class toss rivalry back and forth. 

"Not true, Chat Noir still has his claws and Cataclysm and Ladybug has her lucky charm." (Y:N) pursed her lips, she really didn't want to be apart of this debate, how was she supposed to have an unbiased opinion about herself? 

"I don't even understand why they need Panda. Her ability kit is unnecessary and Chat Noir and Ladybug were doing fine without her." Max rebutted.

"I don't understand why you guys think you have the right to say such awful things! Some girl is risking their life and health for the safety of Paris and all you guys do is pick apart her faults." Rose exclaimed. 

"I'd like to see you guys get a suit and jump over buildings, battle a supervillain while juggling your civilian problems as well." (Y:N) let out a silent breath and relaxed into her seat. 

She'd always admired Rose, she was a sweet girl with simple ideals. 

"That argument is invalid! No one asked Panda to jump into the fray! She did it on her own accord." Chloe snarked as she stood up. "In fact, I think it's safe to say that she's more of a risk to Paris than a saviour. Who wants to rely on a superhero who can't even make it to the fight?" 

"Here, here!" Half the class cheered. 

(Y:N) felt her heart shrivel up and whimper in her burning chest and it was hard to fight back the hurt that was building up in her eyes. She wouldn't lie and say it wasn't eye-opening hearing what her classmates thought of her real self.

Turns out not a lot of people liked the confident side of her either. 

Adrien wheeled around in his seat with a sudden passion in his eyes. "Why is all the heat aimed at Panda? No one knows any of the variables as to why she misses out on Akuma fights. She could have some civilian problem going on -- or maybe she got injured and trapped by an Akuma." 

Marinette scoffed. "That hasn't stopped Ladybug and Chat Noir from getting the job done. Any civilian problems should be pushed aside for the safety of Paris. 

Half the class made sounds of approval. The other half was clearly displeased with the statement. Suddenly there seemed to be a rift between all the students.

"That's not necessarily true," Alya said, not entirely disappointed but more wanting to play devil's advocate. "Nobody knows anything about them, inside and outside the mask."

Kim's expression morphed to scorn. "You mean we could be letting psychos protect our city?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "Don't get it twisted, Hawkmoth is the real villain. Ladybug and Chat Noir have done a damn good job at protecting us."

"Here, here," Juleka agreed with a spark of amusement.

"Well, I think having superheroes protecting the city instead of incompetent policeman is much better," Chloé said, sending a toothy grin back at Marinette's glare.

"Wow, I'm surprised you know what 'Incompetent' means." Alya snarked. Mrs Bustier raised her hand in a silent motion to cut off the trash-talk. 

"All I'm saying is, Ladybug and Chat Noir do a good job without Panda's help." With that, Chloe sat back down and folded her legs. 

"Keeping in mind that Hawkmoths Akuma's have been getting increasingly stronger and more apparent," Adrien spoke up again. "I think that they need Panda now more than ever." 

Nathaniel scowled. "You're probably just saying that because she's pretty and cool and awesome and—"

"Yes, yes, we're all aware of your celebrity crush." Marinette teased.

The redhead flushed violently. "H-Hey!"

(Y:N) felt her cheeks heat up hearing Nathaniel had a crush on her alter ego. 

Adrien sent a glare, a glare, at Marinette, making her prickle in response. "This isn't about her appearance or how cool she is! Panda is a brave hero or puts others before herself. I've seen her fling herself in front of oncoming traffic to save people."

"I can agree with Adrien. I've seen Panda take fatal hits for civilians." Nino said, placing his hand on Adrien's shoulder. (Y:N) had never seen Adrien so worked up before and she found a sense of amusement in the fact that people were defending and insulting her right to her face without knowing. 

There were cheers from Sabrina, Alya, Max, Melyne, Nino, Ivan, and Rose as they joined Adrien at the front of the room.

Marinette careened her head to the side and shot Adrien a narrow-eyed stare. (Y:N) stayed seated, cheeks burning from underneath the shade of her scarf. Marinette stood up, leaning against her table and matching Adrien eye to eye. 

"This isn't about civil crime!" She reprimanded. "I'm talking about threats to the city. Threats to the school! Threats to the Mayor. Panda has been a reckless no-show for the past three akumas."

Kim, Alix, Nathaniel, Juleka, and even Chloé all whooped in agreement. The class was really split now, heralding behind Adrien and Marinette, hate or respect Panda. Pick a side, there will be no grey area in this argument. 

Adrien leaned forward, placing his hands on Marinette's desk. 

"How can you put your faith in someone so reckless? " Marinette snarled. 

"Don't speak for everyone when you assume that Panda doesn't want to protect Paris all the time. Need I remind you that she has a life outside of the mask." Adrien shot back. 

The class rippled with enthusiastic 'oohs' and 'ahhhs' which only made Marinette glare back harder. (Y:N) could feel the anger radiating from the teen girl and she swallowed thickly. Maybe this was getting out of hand?

"Would you to be quiet?" (Y:N) levelled out as she stood up, breaking apart the staring contest. 

"I think you'll all forgetting one undeniable fact." Eyes turned to her and (Y:N) had half the mind to shut up and run from the classroom with the twitching look in Marinette and Adrien's eyes.  

"...And what would that be...?" Madame Bustier asked, breaking the suffocating silence that seemed to become un-waftable. 

"She's human. Just like the rest of us." She watches Adrien's green eyes widened. "She makes mistakes. But you idolise her. You put her on a pedestal. Love her, crown her, cheer her. Then you all watch and wait, for a slip-up, a split second she lets her guard down just to claim a fragment of her story."

"No one can be perfect all the time. Why do you expect her to be any different? Why is she held to an impossible standard? Why do you take it so personally when she contradicts the version of herself that only exists in your head?"

Everyone stared, awstuck. Alya was pretty sure this was the most (Y:N) had ever spoken in her entire life. 

"You think you know her, that she owes you somehow. That her existence is only relative to yours. But she is her own person. She lives and breathes, she hopes and dreams. She has a life, a family, a purpose." 

"And she doesn't owe you a damn thing."

❁ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That last speech is a quote from Land Leav - Idols. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	10. White & Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panda had always wanted to foxtrot with a bomb-throwing zombie queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. I will fix up mistakes in a couple days.

✽

“I am Radio-Head! And you will listen to my music!” Someone screeched. (Y:N) jumped in her chair when an alarm rang out in the room.She blinked hard and stared at the door as kids started to scream and panic like this had never happened before.

Nathaniel let out a small whimper and he was already getting to his feet, his satchel getting thrown across his torso as he brushed strands of strange crimson hair out of his eyes.

(Y:N) looked around her classroom as everyone else started to rise to their feet. Adrien grabbed her wrist and pulled her up, his eyes were wary, cautious. 

Quietly, (Y:N) yanks her small leather purse onto her collarbone and she watches as Madame Bustier collected her gear. Her hands were shaking and she was fumbling, clearly afraid.

"You know the drill, find somewhere safe and secure to hide before Ladybug, Panda and Chat Noir arrive and take care of this victim." She hustled the kids towards the door, making them line up in an orderly two-row line. 

Walking towards the door, (Y:N) follows everyone else out in a flurry and walks over to the railing edge, she glances down and swallows the saliva thickening in her throat

The villain was a girl with dark brown hair, like a mossy forest. She had amethyst eyes. Radio-Head was wearing what seemed to be like a thin suit, that twisted in ugly colours of green and purple. Her bracelet on her left wrist was pulsing with black energy and (Y:N) cocked her head to the side and felt the hairs on her neck flower across her skin

She shivered as the villain locked eyes with her. She felt a swelling start to burn in the back of her throat. Her skin started to boil and her eyes flickered from her purse back to the villain and she shakes her head, knowing that this fool was not an excuse to risk her safety and identity.

"(Y:N)!" She hears a smooth voice call out her name and her head whips back to spot Chat Noir bounding across the railings and towards her. 

“Chat.” (Y:N) says vehemently. A small disco like object was lobbed at his head and he dodges out of the way, watching it lodge itself into the wall behind him. 

The discus flickered for a moment before a pulse of foggy, almost transparent, sound ruined her eardrums. (Y:N) whimpered as a ringing raked at her head.

Nathaniel, Chloe and Juleka came skidding down the hall as flying with the same discus objects chasing after them like heat-seeking missiles. The strangest thing was, (Y:N) couldn’t hear them when they screamed.

In fact — she couldn’t hear at all. Her eyes widened in panic, and Chat’s clawed hands gripping her shoulders as her chest started to heave. 

He was saying something whilst shaking her like he was trying to snap her out of her deaf state. When he realised the futility of his attempts, his eyes went sad and he blinked hard. 

Soon enough the ringing dissipated from her eardrums and she tilted her head to the side like she was trying to shake water from her ears.

“Are you okay?” Chat asked as he gripped her hands in his own. (Y:N)'s mouth went dry and she tried to think of what to say, but her brain suddenly wasn’t working. So she opted for just a small nod. 

“Come back hear Nino! You will pay for humiliating me!” Radio-Head screeched. The super-villain flew past as, a belt of levitating sound bombs orbiting her figure. 

“You need to stay safe (Y:N), those bombs can do serious long-term damage to your ears.” He commented softly, his claws stroking her palms affectionately. 

"Chat Noir!” A voice calls from above and he sees the raven-haired and red clothed Ladybug drop from the skylights and wraps her yo-yo around Radiohead's waist. 

Radio-Head — assumed to be Jordan— howled as her arms got trapped uselessly by her sides. The string tightens around her revealed flesh and she feels the heat energy start to burn her skin as the rope rubs. 

Hissing Jordan kicked her legs out and boots Ladybug in the sternum with her heels. The yo-yo string releases slightly and she wiggles her way to freedom, her breaths coming out in pants and her appendages buck and wreath.

She tosses a sound bomb directly at Ladybug and unlike the others, it detonates instantly. Ladybug screams and clutches her ears as the pulse forces her into a wall.

She collapses on the ground and curls into a fetal position clutching her ears. Chat let’s go of (Y:N)’s hands, giving her one last look, he bounds over to help Ladybug. 

“First, I will make Paris see just how great my music really is, then you will give me your miraculous!” Radio-Head roared as she thrust her hand out towards a group of kids huddled behind a cluster of recycling bins. 

“Dance for me!” She commanded. At first, I thought the kids were just going to scream and run. But immediately one of the kids got on all fours and started prancing around like a spider. The other two embraced each other and started to tango on the school basketball court.

“Okay, I need to find somewhere to transform." (Y:N) mutters as she ducks away from Chat's renowned vocal puns and back-paces to a small closet, once inside she locks the door and eases her back against the wood.

“Misaki?” She calls and the small wonder-fuzz whizzes from the bag and spins in circles. (Y:N)'s (E:C) eyes bounced across the room as she watches the Kwami enjoy her uncaged form.

“Those ungrateful little brats, I can’t believe what they said!” She whined making her grin and roll her eyes.

"We need to transform.” (Y:N) mumbled as the sound of screams and scuffling echoed across the school. 

“Misaki, lets roll!“ she chants and she feels heat surge through her veins, she giggles at the amazing feeling, the air leaving her lungs as cloth crawls across her soft flesh

Her eyes are wide, feral, pink and wilder. A luminescent white light reflected off her body and made her muscles stronger, more flexible and durable.

 

Kicking down the door, she feels her ears twitch as she reaches for her bamboo baton. Looking down she catches the three figures of an Akuma and two superheroes. They seem to have it under control, so Panda takes another approach in making sure everyone in the known area is safe.

Bolting to the nearest classroom she opens the door and sees three kids huddled underneath the teacher's desk, she motions with her hands for them to come over and their eyes widen and they scuttle like crabs.

"Follow me,” She whispers calmly. “I'll take you outside okay? Make a quick run around the classrooms near you and see if anyone is inside, then come back here, I'll escort you out and to safety." At the sacred 'S' word, the children's eyes lit up infear and excitement and they quickly separated to knock on neighbouring classroom doors

"Give me your miraculous!" Radio-Head hollowed out and she hears Chat make a snarky comment and Ladybug preach out about how she would never let Hawkmoth get away with this.

And yet he manages to always seduce someone into becoming an Akuma before trashing the town and getting Ladybug and Chat to save the day; de-evilise the Akuma and then wait for the next one to come along. 

Panda had complained about the standstill multiple times and Ladybug didn't seem too worried about the situation. But Panda had this bad feeling that one day, maybe even today, Hawkmoth would make an appearance and possibly take their miraculous. They didn't know how powerful he was and yet they blindly fight against him. It irked Panda a lot about the variables they had against this guy.

"We have everyone." The kids panted as the held their kneecap, hauled over and heaving in heavy breaths. Panda smiled and high-fived a boy with shaggy brown hair. “Nice job dude, A for effort.” 

She turned again and a smaller sound bomb was thrown onto the railing. Kids screamed and flinched, Panda’s eyes widened. Luckily enough her superhero reflexes allowed her the time to smack the bomb away with her baton.  

The kids heaved with relief, but Panda knew it wouldn’t be over until they were safe. 

”Be very quiet and follow me, every step of the way." She said slowly, her ears were twitching and she was listening to the contestant slamming and smashing along with grunts and groans.

Running down the stairs and hearing the tiptoeing feet of her civilians, she motioned for the back exit instead of the front, she pointed to a small door with a flickering exit sign that was hidden behind the stairs. Kids dashed for the exit and she sighed as she felt an imaginary weight lift off her shoulders.

“Panda has finally joined the Party!” Radio-Head yelled happily. Panda took a look at her surroundings and saw a bunch of older year students dancing with each other robotically. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir were doing the nut-bush, not capable of helping her. Ladybug was pleading with her eyes, Chat looked very embarrassed that this particular Akuma had gotten the drop on him. 

Panda assessed the situation. It was a one-on-one battle and those typically didn’t favour well for a superhero. Especially when the villain was a flying, bomb-tossing, music freak, zombie queen. 

“Well, Panda? What do you say, care to dance?” Radio-Head said as she wiggled her fingers. 

Panda stared at her, her lips thinning. Chat noticed that look in her eyes, that glint when she was thinking a million crazy ideas at once. It scared him.

Panda took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Let’s dance then, shall we?” 

Radio-Head hesitated. Ladybug’s eyes almost popped out of her head and Chat simply grinned. 

“…What?” Jordan said, her shoulders going slack. Panda grinned and pressed her weight onto her toes. It seemed as though she’d caught the Akuma victim by surprise. 

“You don’t want to dance?” She mocked. “How disappointing.”

Radio-Head's purple eyes hardened like the surface of granite and she dropped to the floor. Her spandex suit started to morph, dark little bubbles submerging on her skin. 

Jordan flinched and one of her knees buckle. Panda assumed that Hawk Moth was berating her inside her head. She seized up and went completely still, but before Panda could even use the time to her advantage, she was moving again. 

It looked robotic, and she seemed to still be in pain but it didn’t stop her from talking let alone walking. 

“You want to dance with…me?” Her head jerked back doubtingly as she approached Panda. “Why?”

“Why not?” Panda said with a grin as she held out her hand. Radio-Head looked a little miffed, she was scratching and fiddling with her bracelet as she levelled herself with the heroine. 

“The Waltz, M’Lady?” Panda bowed and extended her hand. She was expecting to get slapped in the face and then she’d have to actually fight the Akuma out of Jordan. But Radio-Head grasped her hand and pulled Panda towards her. 

She wrapped her arms around the heroines waist and suddenly she was spinning. She almost bit her tongue and the sudden movement and she felt her baton get tossed across the school.

There went her plan B. Radio-Head span Panda back into her and splayed her out. She felt a little dizzy, but then the headphone that was looped around Jordan’s ears started to play some smooth jazz.

Panda got twirled and tossed and danced across the school gymnasium. Jordan had this big goofy grin plastered onto to her as they did the hustle. 

A smile cracked Radio-Heads once serious expression as they started spinning together. Panda clapped to the music and spun the villain around on her arm like Jack and Jill. 

“Everyone has different tastes in music, Jordan,” Panda said slowly, as they turned in a small circle. “I don't make your taste bad, and there is nothing wrong with priding yourself with good music choices. You just have to remember that everyone different.” 

Radio-Heads purple eyes shimmered with a wave of realisation and she stepped towards Panda. Her outfit started to shimmer, some of her victims stopped dancing with a dazed expression on their face, wipe from the curse. 

T he girls continued their dance. Radio-Head linked their fingers and threw Panda like a frisbee, she couldn’t help but laugh at the feeling of flying before she landing gracefully.

They advanced, retreated, pirouetted, their arms waving from side to side above their heads, their heads swaying, their garments fluttering. Radio-Heads curse broke on the rest of the victims and Chat Noir and Ladybug fell to the floor with a flood.

“I love this song,” Panda said, gesturing to the radio. “Everyone loves this song! And you know that because it’s your passion.” Radio-Head suddenly seized up, clutching her head in pain. 

Panda knew she was losing her to Hawk-Moths command. 

“You are passionate about music Jordan!” Panda exclaimed. “Show people how much you love music — but not like this! Not by forcing it on people. That isn’t what music about, it’s about bringing people together, celebrating, it’s about culture and acceptance and expressiveness.” 

Her bracelet shattered and an Akuma fluttered from its confinements. Jordan collapsed and Panda caught her as she crumpled. Kids were staring, others were cheering and Panda couldn’t help but smile.

Ladybug purified the Akuma and Chat were just staring in wonder. Like they’d never thought about negotiating with akumas instead of straightening out attacking them. Although Panda wasn’t really known for the pacifist side of things, her idea had worked and she was really proud of herself.

“That was amazing Panda!” Chat said as he ran over, they high-fived. 

“I know, I didn't think that would work. But I’m a Panda so…”

“Good luck in Chinese,” Chat said fondly making the heroine quirk an eyebrow. “Yeah I remember you telling me, I’m not stupid.”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.” Panda teased as she flicked his bell. Chat shook his head and grinned at her. 

✽

The night was still tonight and there wasn’t that chilly wind that (Y:N) had been used to. So she stood out on the balcony, scanning the horizon quietly.

She was still beaming with happiness from her solo takedown today. And the fact that in her alter ego form she had the guts to dance like an idiot in front of hundreds of teenagers. 

“You look deep in thought.” A voice called from her chimney. She instantly rolled her eyes and tried to hide the smile that played on her lips. 

“Alley-cat.” (Y:N) said as she watched the dark figure looming on the railing of her balcony. Chat jumped down elegantly and bowed, reaching forward to kiss her hand. 

(Y:N) jerked her wrist back, blushing furiously. 

“How are you feeling M’Lady?” 

“…I’m good, how about you?” (Y:N) asked timidly. She expected him to give her that signature troublemaker grin and brag about how cool he was. But instead, he sighed and plopped himself down on her balcony railing. 

“I could be better, Princess.” He confessed as he brought his knees to his chest and placed his chin on his kneecaps. (Y:N) blinked hard, surprised by his honesty.

“…Are you okay?” She asked nervously, she wasn’t the best at comforting people but she tried. “Did something happen during the Akuma?”

 

Chat Noir blinked and turned towards her, staring with shocked green eyes. 

“Did you get hurt?” (Y:N) said and she rushed forward without thinking and clutched his clawed hand, inspecting it with flushed cheeks. 

“No, no!” Chat said waving his hands. “Don’t worry about me Princess, just some civilian problems.” 

(Y:N) tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. She didn’t believe him when he said that but she also knew that he couldn’t say anything without hinting at his secret identity.

“But I do worry about you…” She mumbled, pouting a little. Chat thought the expression looked adorable, especially when her cheeks were burning red. 

“Ahh Princess, you are too sweet for this world.” He extends his arms and his jade eyes glitter temptingly. She observes the gesture cautiously before she steps forward and allows Chat to wrap his warm arms around her.

She’d never been hugged by someone so warm. To be honest, (Y:N) hadn’t been hugged in a while. She didn’t like people touching her, especially after what her father had been doing. But Chat was on another spacial dimension when it came to personal rules. 

She let him kiss her after all. 

The hug was nice, she couldn’t stop herself from snuggling into his neck. He smelled just as she had remembered, refreshing but also wild, like a tiger kept in a nicely refurbished cage. 

He pulled away, much to her displeasure, and placed a tender kiss to her forehead. Almost like he was scared (Y:N) was going to crumble underfoot. When she looked up at him, he was staring down at her so intently she couldn’t help but blush. 

“…Princess…?” He said softly, his clawed hand coming to the side of her face. She thought he was going to cup her cheek and say something cringe and romantic, but he trailed his finger over her bandaged ear with worry.

Her eyes widened in realisation and she stepped away from him, rubbing her arm out of a nervous habit. 

“It’s an I-injury from school…I got knocked over…it’s embarrassing.” (Y:N) mumbled as she hides behind her scarf. 

His brows furrowed together and (Y:N) could tell he wasn’t convinced. He could tell almost instantly that she was getting uncomfortable, like the mere subject of injury and wounds was a bad topic.

“I…” His breath caught in his throat and whatever he was going to say he decided to swallow. 

“Why are you embarrassed by it?” He said instead. 

“It…It’s silly.” She mumbled, scratching her cheek and turned her head away from his gaze. 

“You can tell me, Princess,” Chat insisted as he wrapped his arms around her elbows and pulled her closer to him. “You can trust me.” 

(Y:N) looked at him reluctantly and chewed on her lip. 

“It’s…it makes me look foolish. Everyone at school thinks I’m a pushover because I needed a bandage for a little injury.”

“(Y:N), you were bleeding for Christ’s sake.” Chat said with a sigh. At first (Y:N) felt a little sheepish at his reaction, that her feeble insecurity was silly, but then ice filled her veins when she realised what he said. (Y:N) immediately froze up and stared at him incredulously. 

“…How did you know that?” She asked, an edge drifting into her voice. 

Chat quirked an eyebrow at her, dragging his clawed finger up her arm and fiddling with the split ends of her hair. “Know what, Princess?”

“That it was bleeding…?” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. 

Chat blanched and his entire posture went rigid, he tried to hide the surprise in his expression but it spread across him like a disease. 

“Uh, well, erm. A-An injury like that, cuts and all, of course, y-you’d be b-bleeding. It’s was only n-natural to assume s-so.” 

(Y:N) gazed at him indifferently for a moment before her shoulders relaxed and she exhaled through her nose. 

“And for the record, Princess.” Chat said, tipping her chin up. “I don’t think someone as beautiful as you could ever look foolish.” 

(Y:N)’s face felt like an active volcano and the blood rush to her ears. Her lips wove shut like she was being controlled by a puppeteer and her tongue went heavy. She had no words, and she simply just stared at him, face red and her heart jittering in her chest. 

She feels a pressure on her lips and he heart started to beat into outer space it was pounding so hard. 

“Au revoir, Princess.” He gives her a two-fingered salute before he backflips off her balcony and bounds off toward the horizon. 

She watches him go, sighing softly.

✽

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter was inspired by the song: I don't even speak spanish lol - by XXXTENTACION. You should listen to it because it's actually a pre good song. Side note, I also drank green tea and lemon honey while writing this chapter. How privileged can you get?


	11. Red & White

❁

“What happened to your ear?” Adrien asked Panda as she twists her wrist and scores another goal of foosball.

Panda didn't really know how she had gotten into this situation. Playing games with Adrien as her superhero persona. One minute she was dutifully patrolling Paris and the next minute she was bored out of her brains. She saw the light in his room from his massive house and decided that chatting with Adrien as Panda might be a lot of fun.

“Akuma accident. Nothing bad.” Panda replied, grinning at him. The model boy frowned for a fraction of a second before he nodded thoughtfully, attempting to fake his curiosity.

“Must be rough being a superhero for Paris…” He conjured up as the Panda styled heroine shot another goal past his defences. 

“It has its ups and downs,” She replied smoothly. “I could say the same for you, Model-Boy.” 

The blonde’s ears went completely red. “Whaddya mean?” 

Panda chewed on her lip, a mischevious glint in her eyes. “Balancing being a teenager and a celebrity?”

Adrien scoffed incredulously at her remark. “You’re one to talk.”

(Y/N) cocked her head to the side. “What makes you think I’m a teenager?”

The model paused. 

“You’re like 4 foot eight.” He said with a bedazzling smile.

(Y/N) glared at him playfully. 

“Touché.” The heroine said, grinning as she slipped another goal past his watchful eye. 

“So you have to balance being a teen and being a superhero?” Adrien didn’t want to let go of the subject, no matter how hard she tried to divert his attention.

“Yeah…it isn’t as bad as you’d think, apart from missing class and…well hiding the biggest secret ever.” 

“You like school?” Adrien asked.

“I like it more…” (Y/N) bit her tongue to stop herself. “I like it.” 

Adrien smiled, like he was remembering something fond. His eyes looked very pretty in the moonlight, and apart from his room, the entire mansion was ridden with darkness. 

“Any reason why you like it? Or just because?” Adrien asked, becoming rather uninterested in their game of foosball. 

“What kind of reason are you looking for?”

Adrien grinned at her. “...A crush maybe?” 

Panda’s heart leapt in her chest and her throat swelled up. That question sent her spinning. Did he know? How? No. Surely not. She’d done nothing to give that away. That confused her even more.

“…Why?” She steered back with a smile. “Do you have a crush?” 

She thought he would’ve blushed and done that thing were he hides behind his pretty, golden bangs. But he got all giddy and started beaming like some preschool kid who got to bring chocolate to school for recess. Another soccer ball went passed his goals but he was too busy smiling to care. 

Panda tried not to let it bother her how different Adrien acted around her alter ego.

“Judging by your reaction I’m assuming that you do.” (Y/N) sighed, breaking away from the foosball handles and crossing her arms.

“Yeah…” Adrien said, scratching his neck bashfully. “I do.”

“Wow,” Panda said halfheartedly, manoeuvring around the table. “The great Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel Agreste and Emilie Agreste, the Model-Boy of Paris, a superstar, an amazing—“

“—Okay! Okay…” Adrien hushed, putting his hands on the heroines shoulders. “I get it.” 

(Y/N) grinned smoothly, desperately trying to hide the brokenness that was filling her heart.Of course, he had a crush, of course he liked someone else. She was probably prettier, thinner, funnier. She got it. She wouldn’t choose herself either. 

Her heart started to throb and ache, a sudden feeling of dread consuming her. Her mask hid her feelings, so she put on a smile and did what she normally did. Faked it.

“Adrien Agreste has a crush?” Panda smacked her cheeks as she flopped onto his bed.“What are they like?” 

Adrien’s eyes went all soft and glittery and he sighed, holding his chest.

“She’s adorable. The cutest being on this planet.” He explained. “She’s very shy and quiet, but she has this unexpected humour and confidence about her sometimes. She’s honestly so mysterious and amazing and beautiful and—“

“Okay Pretty-Boy,” Panda’s voice almost cracked with hurt but she put on a smile. “I get it, she’s cool. Don’t start frothing at the mouth.” 

“Heh, yeah,” Adrien blushed, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry about that.” 

“No worries, that girl must really be something.”

“…Yeah…”Adrien said wistfully. 

(Y/N) could feel the ache seeping into every pore of her being. He had a crush on Marinette. Of course, he did. She was gorgeous, talented, shy and confident.But coming to the realisation did little to relieve the pain in her centre.

Adrien turned and an all-knowing smile spread across his face. “What about you?”

“Nah.” Panda waved him off, shifting herself into a sitting position on his bed. “I’m not the lovey-dovey type.” 

The model boy smiled, and his eyes narrowed in amusement.

“What?” Panda accused teasingly, putting her hands up in defence. 

“I don’t believe you.” He said, crossing his arms. 

“Believe **what**?”

“That you’re not the loving type,” Adrien said, sitting down next to her on the bed, grinning. 

“Well,” Panda said, her eyes losing that playful sparkle. “You don’t **have** to believe me.” 

She didn’t mean for it to come out so sharp, and she could tell by Adrien’s slightly paler skin that he’d realised her change in mood.

“Right,” Adrien reels back, hesitating. “That was too intrusive wasn’t it?I’m sorry, I’m sure superheroes don’t have time for romance.”

“One of the many sacrifices I gave up for the city,” Panda replied almost bitterly, staring down at her woven hands. 

Adrien tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

Panda suddenly looked really uncomfortable and fidgety, like she couldn’t wait to leap out his window and into the night air.She turned away from his gaze and sucked in a deep breath. 

“…Things I’ve given up for Paris, my civilian life…” She elaborated.

“I…”Adrien looked like he was having an inner argument with himself on what to say, and eventually he came out with. “I've never even thought about the effects I’d have on you…”

Lie. Lying through his teeth, lying because he can tell she’s getting upset.Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes look glassy behind the cold contrast of her black mask. 

“No one does. No civilian ever worries about a superhero because we’re fucking _superheroes._ **Super-Heroes.** No one has our back except ourselves. And it's…this…is the loneliest thing I’ve ever…” 

She turned to face him and their eyes locked for a second. Suddenly Adrien could see all the pain she’d been hiding, and for a fraction of a second he could see the fragments of her heart scattered through the windows of her eyes. 

Panda jumped up from the bed, clearly uncomfortable by Adrien’s presence beside her. She shook her head, knees shaking and hands trembling. 

She started to pace, her entire body jerking and snapping in awkward movements.Like she didn’t know what to do with the emotions she was feeling and was trying to kick them from her naive body. 

“That Akuma that forced people to dance? “ She snapped suddenly, her voice breaking the building tension in the room. "I wasn’t on any level prepared to face her on my own. I’d never been so anxious in my life. Imagine what would have happened if I failed.”

Tears started to well in her eyes.Everything was escalating all too quickly. One minute they’d been laughing and joking and now this esteemed superhero was having a breakdown. 

“Being a superhero is no less one of the scariest things I’ve had to do. You’re never prepared for what you’re up against, and you could be anywhere doing anything and you’re expected to show up to fight impossible villains. There’s this level of unprecedented perfection that everyone demands of you and I will never be able to live up to everyone's expectations.”

She ran a gloved hand down her face, carelessly wiping away the evidence of tears. She had her back to Adrien, shoulders moving ever so slightly.Adrien moved to stand up so he could comfort her. But she span around on him, shoving a gloved finger at his chest, eyes burning. 

“I’m only human!” She accused tearfully. “All my slip-ups make me think more and more of how I’m not fit for the job."

Adrien's heart turned into a rock and plummeted into his stomach. 

“But being Panda is all I have, she’s my escape from my civilian life, she’s my fantasy, and yet I can’t even be good at her.” 

“…” Adrien's lips were woven thin, his heart was beating out of his chest. He was left completely speechless by her soliloquy, tongue heavy and dry in his mouth. 

“That day I didn’t show up to help with that Akuma who turned people to stone? It was because I was turned to stone before I could transform. I’m never where I should be. I’m not who I should be. I’ll never be who I should be.” 

Adrien tried with every muscle in his body, every fibre of his being. But words did not even reach his throat, they sat simmering in his stomach, bathing in shock and impulse, scared to conjure through his lips. 

His eyes went big and his breath hitched, staring at her like a lost kitten. Panda turned to him and saw the shock and befuddlement spreading across his face and her heart solidified, dropped and shattered in her chest. 

She realised that gravity of her venting, what she had said. She pried off the side of her mask and showed Adrien the scared, insecure, vulnerable side of her. And it made her sick to the stomach.

She hated herself for what she had said. What she was still saying. She hated what she had done, she hated her existence. 

“Forget it…” Her voice was smothered with pain. “Forget I said anything.”

She turned and jumped for the open window, a blast of chilly air almost knocking Adrien off his feet.

“Wait!” He yelled, scrambling to his senses as she perched atop of the window, looking out at the big, bold moon.

Panda turned to him, and the look on her face could only be described as the melancholy of a thousand years. Confusion clashed with hate and love, anger and pride, naivety. She looked lost, twinkling like the stars above, conflicted. 

“Panda…” 

And just like that. 

She was gone.

❁


	12. Red & Blue

❁

  
“What do you think of Panda?” (Y/N) asked, snuggled up in Chat’s warm arms.

The day was unusually cold, but the wind chill was awful. Despite the sun rays beaming through the open window and the birds chirping, people that walked the streets were all rugged up.

Chat turned his head from staring out at the sky. His blonde hair was extra fluffy today like he’d marinated it in shampoo. His skin smelt like expensive beauty products and he was radiating heat.

“Hm? Princess,” he murmured, half-asleep. “Why do you ask?”

(Y/N) shifted in Chat’s arms, feeling his claws scrap against the fabric of her sweater. She couldn’t remember when they had started their afternoon cuddle sessions, but now it was just somewhat regular.

“I was…” she blushed profusely. “Just wondering…”

Chat smiled at her, eyes pondering her question.

“Panda’s a great friend I suppose…” He curled his claws across her chin. “She’s always there when I need advice or a hug. Probably one of my most trusted companions, other than you, My lady.” Chat Noir purred, running a clawed hand through (Y/N)’s hair.

(Y/N) felt her heart twist in her chest. What did that even mean? Did he like the only part of herself that was true and natural as a friend? Why did he like this side of (Y/N)? She was weak and pathetic. Nothing like her counter-part Panda.

“She’s petty cool, kinda over the top and extra, but I guess that’s a part of her charm.”

Her heartstrings severed in her chest and pain swept her breath away like a kite in the cold winds.

He thought Panda was over-the-top? The part of her that could let loose and have fun. The only part of her that was free. Oh God, she regretted asking. Hurt was swelling up in her chest like a big, black bruise.

Chat must've noticed that smile wiped from her face because he dipped down to cup her cheek.   
  
“I much fancy you if you’re jealous Princess."

On any other day, (Y/N)'s heart would've flutter at that statement. But he'd just ripped her heart in two pieces. One side was melting over his affection, the other one was trembling, backing away into a self-deprecating corner.

He liked Panda as a friend? Shouldn't she be happy? That meant he was loyal to her civilian self. She should be grinning from ear to ear and nuzzling into his neck like she always did when he said something lovely. But instead, her shoulders went heavy.

Did she like Chat Noir because he was Chat Noir? Did she like Chat Noir because he seemed to genuinely care and want her? Or did she like Chat Noir because he seemed to actually pay attention to her and sweep her off her feet? Did she like Chat, or did she like the idea of liking Chat?

What about Adrien? She had thought her little crush on him would've disappeared after she started hanging out with Chat more and more. But her little romance over him grew stronger and stronger by the days.

But Adrien Agreste had girls falling at his feet and begging. Sure they probably had no personality or self-respect (she was one to talk), but they were much prettier, much thinner and much more confident than she would ever be.

She was just another girl with ridiculous crushes on people way out of her league.

But why was Chat here than? There had to be some reason he was here, it wasn't like she was forcing him or blackmailing him. Most of the romance had come from his side of the relationship anyway. He kissed her.

So what did he want from this arrangement?

Her head started to throb, she groaned, eyes fluttering closed. Why did her brain have to make everything so complicated?

"Are you okay?" Chat asked, caressing the side of her face. "You look a little pale Princess."

"Hm?" (Y/N) murmured into the side of his neck, "I'm...okay, j-just worrying about tomorrow."

Tomorrow. The charity carnival.

Her heart spiked in her chest, she hoped he didn't ask any questions because she was terrible at lying to Chat.

The fundraiser was to have happened weeks ago. But because of the Radio-Head disaster the cancer council charity event was put off until the week after due to the well-being of Paris.

(Y/N) just saw it as a bunch of corporate companies too scared to get on their luxury jet plains and come to Paris because of some maniac in a butterfly suit.

Marinette and (Y/N) were put in charge of everyone, Marinette did the enjoyable side of the market; catering, recreation, exhibitions and patrons along with the schemes, designs and formal system.

(Y/N) had to put her ideas into action with assemblages, postponed deliveries, late nights, conferences, proposals and ordering specialised equipment for the selected host of the fundraising.

(Y/N) opted for a more appropriate venue. Like the school, or maybe the city gardens. But Marinette said it was go big or go home. She said it had to be glamorous and captivating. Evidently, they had booked the Eiffel Tower for their location.

They'd spent weeks preparing for the momentous day. Designating people, making flyers, organising food and entertainment. Chloe managed to get Jagged Stone to perform for their fundraiser.

"That concert charity you and Marinette organised right?"

"How'd you know Marinette was doing it with me? I never said anything about her."

Chat's cheeks went red from under his black mask, he chuckled awkwardly.

"I saw flyers...?" He sounded very unsure about himself. "Around...you know, Paris."

I blinked. I'd forgotten all about the flyer making. The printer had a seizure computing so many orders and I'd been sprayed with ink and laughed at by some year nine class. It was awful. I looked like the Loch Ness Monster.

"O-Oh," I chewed on the inside of my lip. "Right,"

I could practically feel my face and neck burning under his gaze, and I squirmed in his arms.

Chat hummed, pressing his lips to my cheek. "You're adorable Princess."

❁

Today was the fateful day and (Y/N) was running amuck getting everyone organised. She hadn't had time to shower this morning, her hair was super oily and pimples scoured her face like they were on a trekking mission.

(Y/N) was forced to wear a beany to hide her horrible hear. She was also wearing old jeans and a wrinkled long-sleeve, tee-shirt. Not her best fashion day immediately.

Marinette was standing out the front of the marquee and heaps of people were lining up outside with their tickets. Waving them around like maniacs and demanding to be let in as multiple kids held down the fray and cashed in their cards and money.

The food was dazzling, the bands were strumming sweet tunes. Balloons, streamers, sparkles and pink medallions lit up the square. All the pastries in the world lined the rows of the canopy. Pink macaroons, puff pastries, chocolate croissants glazed with ganache and this big ass choc-chip cookies.

Everyone inside was dolled up like models. Men with gleaming black suits, crisp button-ups and cravats strolled the twinkling dance floor. Women in satin dressed and puffy lace danced ceremoniously around the world, flirting their heads off with bachelors.

People were donating more than they should've. Like their entire lives savings. I had no idea why we were doing so well, we were just kids and had managed to set up something this marvellous for a non-for-profit organisation. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly.

“(Y/N), you did such a great job!” Adrien languished as he looked her up and down. Her eyes were frantic, bloodshot and dark from little to no sleep. Her shirt was in dire need of an iron, her distressed jeans were covered in buttercream icing.

(Y/N) gave him a half asked smile as she ushered some more people into the huge tent.

“(Y/N),” This time she didn't respond at all, she just flipped her phone out and answered a call. Adrien frowned, realising he was getting completely ignored.

(Y/N)'s voice was quick paced, stressed and full of cracks and blow-outs. Her normal soft and melodic tone that could lull anyone to sleep had been thrown out of a nearby window.

“I know the cake hasn't arrived yet," She rubbed her temple with her free hand. "Mr Dupain is coming at three a clock for the celebratory council dance!” (Y/N) snapped, chewing on her lip and listening to whoever was ranting at her.

“(Y/N),” Adrien tried again, and she didn't even look his way, too busy grumbling words of distaste at whoever was hassling her over the phone. Adrien frowned, he hated when she of all people disregarded him; heck he despised it.

“(Y/N)~” He cooed as he walked towards her and wrapped his hands around her shoulders, attempting to shake her from her fit of rage. Instead, he was getting swatted at, she was wriggling her back out of his grasp.

“A-Adrien…” Her soft and wispy voice was back, staring over her own shoulder at him with pleading eyes. She was still wriggling, and whoever she was talking to didn't sound happy. He realised he was just a pest.

Adrien sighed in defeat, his breath hitting the back of her neck. (Y/N) froze up under his touch and she shivered from head to toe. Watching her reaction made him very happy for some reason, he grinned.

“What do you mean Jagged Stone can’t make it!” (y/N) wiggled out of his grasp and launched into a full-on assault over the phone. Her eyes clouded over with disappointment and fretfulness, Adrien could see perspiration run down the side of her neck.

(Y/N) slammed the phone down on the table and ran a hand through her knotty hair. Shen then groaned, slamming her head against the wooden table in defeat.

(Y/N) could not keep her stress under control these days, balancing her superhero life with her school life and her secret relationship with Chat Noir. She was at her end, her nerves were frayed and she was sure her secrets would be spilt very, very soon.

“Jagged bailed?” Adrien snapped her from her trance, she looked up at him with sharp eyes. He smiled at her, that bloody boy smiled at her. Her blood boiled.

“It’ll be fine, we will just have to find someone else to come,” He said making her lips quiver in anger.

“How do you expect us to find an A-lister star better of the same popularity as Jagged Stone in less than an hour?" (Y/N) exclaimed, trembling in a fit of rage. "It would have to be a bloody miracle.”

The colour drained from (Y/N)'s face and her shoulders slumped.

“Unless Fleetwood Mac just happens to be in Paris and just happens to waltz in here and be like ‘Hey guys, mind if we destroy the stage with our music? Then no.”

Adrien had never seen her act like this ever, she never lost her cool, she never sassed anyone, she never rose her voice. She always had this wholesome and calm demeanour. To see her bursting from the seems in frustration made his stomach to flips in exhilaration, he loved finding out new sides of (Y/N).

“True, and it's not like anyone here knows a thing about music.”

(Y/N) froze at his statement, and a smile crept onto her face. She turned away from Adrien and run for the exit leaving him completely confused. Marinette was standing at the entrance, and she was chewing her nails.

“Jagged Stone cancelled!” Marinette exclaimed as Alya let another flurry of people into the marquee.

“Don’t worry," (Y/N) said, tapping her foot. "I have another artist who is willing to make up for it.” (Y/N) said as she started to tap her foot.

“What? Who is better the Jagged Stone?”

“Nino.” She announced flatly making the bluenette’s eyes widen.

“H-How did you…what?” Marinette's face turned so pale she could've been a phantom. "Nino? I mean, he's good at mixing tracks, but he can't replace Jagged STONE."

"The only drawback on Jagged Stone bailing is the fact that his career is going to get blasted for it." (Y/N) rubbed her sleeve. " If we can pick with up, we can make a real impact on the fundraiser."

(Y/N) blinked at her entirely red face and gave Marinette a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. "Gimme your phone." She said as she brushed past the sixteen-year-old. Marinette fumbled with her pockets and pulled out her mobile.

She dialled his number and waited for him to pick up.

"Sup Marinette," Nino's voice crackled on the line.

“Hey, Nino. It's (Y/N).”

“Oh (Y/N), is something wrong? Why are you using Marinette's phone?” Nino responded. (Y/N) knew very well that she doesn't have Nino's number and he probably is as well and is just saying that to make conversation. But she needed Nino to perform to save her own ass, or more like Jagged Stone’s ass.

“Jagged Stone bailed. I was wondering if you could help out with the music?”

The line was quiet for a moment. “Are you asking me to DJ an event as massive as that?"

"...Is that okay with you?"

"Hell yeah dude— I mean, hell yes (Y/N)." Substantial relief flooded her veins and she let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding. A massive burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Thanks a million, Nino.” She tried to hold back her smile.

“No problem dudette," Nino chuckled. "I'll make my way over with my equipment.”

“Marinette.” Her voice was cold, trying her best to conceal her utter excitement for fixing this horrible situation. The dark-haired teen looked up from exchanging coins with a little kid. Her hair was frazzled, and she looked stressed.

“H-Hey, have you got Nino sorted? The crowd is starting to get angry…”

“Yeah, he's bringing his stuff over now. It should be good.”

“You're an absolute lifesaver. Let's hope this works.”

“Just do your job, I can handle this.” (Y/N) muttered, storming back into the marquee.

While she was waiting for Nino to show up, (Y/N) made sure the other small bands kept up appearances. She kept tabs on the waiters, the amount of catering and the cleaners sweeping through split drinks and food on the floor. The guests overall happiness seemed to be sky-rocketing at the moment.

When Nino finally arrived, it took a little time to set up his DJ crib and hook up all the correct wires to the speakers. But we managed to organise it in time because some of the patrons were getting bored. I was praying that Nino's choice of music was tasteless, considering so many big names were here. But I'd done all I could.

Marinette strutted onto the stage, her knees smacking together, clearly nervous to see the crowds reaction.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have had a slight mix up, and Jagged Stone cannot make it.” Marinette started, and she got a chorus of boos and angry shouts in contentment.

“But we have someone else taking over for Jagged Stone! Nino Lahiffe will be performing in his place, an aspiring artist from Collège Françoise Dupont.” Marinette said, and the crowd went silent for more than enough sufficient time for worry to spread, that was until they started cheering.

Adrien’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Nino was performing? He fished into his pocket and skimmed for (Y/N)'s number, it went straight to voicemail, a frown formed on his face.

“Give it up for Nino!” The crowd got even more pumped, and Adrien found himself biting his gums. The air stilled and suddenly a girl with black hair walked on stage.

The girl was wearing this long, white outfit. A skirt with a train that hit the ground flowed like grass down her legs and split down the middle. Her sleeves were longer than her arms, spreading out in a fashionable scoop.

The girl was wearing some sort of green cardigan that turned into a hoody and wrapped around her head. Her hair was also frilled in shades of green, but her eyes were a verdant, bloody red.

Her legs were pale white, like starch and milk mixed around in a saucer for kittens. A severe contrast from her mercury irises.

...That wasn't Nino...

“Hey, Paris~!” She called, her voice was sweet and almost shrill with the amount of happiness it was dripping with. She had a genuine smile planted across her lips, and her red eyes were glistening with glee.

“This song is for Adrien, my sweetie-pie, my soulmate, my lover! And you'll all be sticking around to hear it.”

The doors of the marquee rutted shut and all music were filtered out until complete eery silence filled the charity hall. All was still until the crowd erupted into panic.

Screams echoed across the building, people ran in all sorts of directions. Sirens were already wailing in the distance. The panicked shrieks of civilians being funnelled by all the other noise screeching outside the hall.

Adrien felt his eyes stretching as she pulls the microphone close to her lips and her eyes flutter close as the lights dim. And then she began to sing...

❁


End file.
